Every year, thousands of players join the professional circuit. However, only a handful of them get to live their dream. Similar seems to be the case with Ajla Tomljanovic. After a strenuous effort of a decade, and dealing with a number of serious injuries, it was finally last year that the Aussie player reached her first-ever quarterfinal at Wimbledon.
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Walking on the same path of success at the grass courts of Wimbledon, Tomljanovic is once again back in the quarterfinals this year. Ready to take on 17th-seeded Elena Rybakina, the 29-year-old Aussie opened up about her tenacious efforts to reach two consecutive Wimbledon semifinals.?
How Ajla Tomljanovic made two quarterfinals at Wimbledon
Last year, Tomljanovic surprised the world with her underdog performance. Outplaying Belgium qualifier Greet?Minnen in the opening round, she went on to beat prominent players like Alize Cornet, Jelena Ostapenko, and Emma Raducanu. In the quarterfinals, she suffered a loss to the eventual champion, Ashleigh Barty.?
Being in a similar situation this year, she has already outplayed a number of prominent players, including Alize Cornet. Reaching back-to-back quarters at Wimbledon, Tomljanovic has also written her in the history books. She has become the first Australian since Jelena Dokic in 1999-2000 to reach two consecutive Wimbledon quarterfinals. Recently, indulging in a conversation with a media house, she opened up about the thoughts that helped her reach the milestone.
“I knew that I had the capacity to realize goals and dreams that I have set for myself when I was young. I can feel that there is a lot of good tennis still left inside me. The feeling of victory in a tennis match is a feeling that cannot be reproduced anywhere in life. I am in constant search for that feeling, I am never even thinking about quitting,” she said.
Message of Tomljanovic for players eying for something big
As mentioned earlier, Tomljanovic struggled for a decade before finally making her mark. Diving deeper into her career, Tomljanovic turned pro in 2009. With her game in place, she has reached 3 finals in WTA Tour Events. Additionally, she has reached 4 semifinals on the tour. Apart from this, she also suffered from mononucleosis in 2012, and shoulder injuries in 2016 and 2017.
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Despite not winning a single title to date, she is one of the few players who have refused to give up. The result? Today Tomljanovic is a 2-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist and is eyeing a place in the final 4 of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.
Set to take her Wimbledon campaign forward on Court 1 at 1.30 PM local time today, Tomljanovic suggested the upcoming players to continue dreaming.
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“You need to rely on the dream you had when you started to play tennis, something that pushes you never to give up?you need to channel that feeling in a way and to be aware of the fact that every week is a possibility for something new to happen. We have all witnessed a lot of stories where a certain player does not win many matches, only for that one week to come where they fulfill their dreams. No giving up!”
Do you think she can go all the way this year? Let us know in the comments!