Next up in the quest to become the likely answer to a tennis trivia question for decades to come is Ajla Tomljanovic.
But as Tomljanovic is well aware — perhaps too well aware — securing the prize is going to be quite a task.
Williams is back on song and a chorus of nearly 24,000 will continue to give her thunderous backup in tonight’s third-round match at the U.S. Open in a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“No matter the outcome, it’s something I’ll never forget,” Tomljanovic said late Wednesday night, standing on a nearly empty terrace outside the stadium. “And I actually thought about it before the draw even came out. I thought about playing her, and it made me a little bit sad that I was kind of playing in her era and I never got to actually play her. And I had this moment of manifestation in my bed that I would have this moment.
“I had no idea how it would happen, but I saw that I was going to play her, so this is pretty surreal.”
Tomljanovic is no newcomer, like some of Williams’s first-time opponents during this comeback, which is presumably her final comeback.
Emma Raducanu, 19, defeated Williams in the first round of the Western and Southern Open. Tomljanovic is 29, was born in Croatia in a sporting family — her father, Ratko, was a top team handball player — and moved to Florida in her teens to train. She is still based there, although she began representing Australia in 2018 after spending considerable time in the country with her ex-boyfriend Nick Kyrgios.
Tomljanovic’s biography befits a global sport like professional tennis, and her profession has brought her much delight but also tears and frustration. She has had a major shoulder injury and missed an extended period of action because of mononucleosis. For all her evident ball-striking ability, she has never been ranked higher than No. 38 in singles, and that came earlier this year. She is now ranked 46 and unseeded at the U.S. Open.
“She’s the best player on tour never to be in the top 20 in my opinion,” said Max Eisenbud, her longtime agent, who works with Raducanu and made his name representing Maria Sharapova and Li Na. “Ajla’s good tennis is really good and beautiful to watch. I am glad she is getting this platform to show her tennis. I am hopeful she can handle the moment. It’s not easy.”
The challenge is not just in dealing with Williams’s groundstrokes and potent, difficult-to-read serve. It is not just in dealing with the crowd roaring for Williams’s winners and applauding her opponents’ errors. The challenge is in the learning curve: adapting to the reality of actually seeing Williams on the other side of the net after watching her for so long from afar or on a screen.
Take too long to adjust and the opportunity is gone, but Tomljanovic, a citizen of the world, said she would not have felt that her tennis journey was complete without the chance to play the greatest women’s player of their time.
“I think I have to play her,” she said. “I’ll be honest: I didn’t want to play her here first round. I don’t know why. It was just a feeling that it was dangerous, but now I’m ready to do it.”
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