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New Australian, Ajla Tomljanovic, will kick start her Australian Open campaign tonight on Rod Laver Arena against Shelby Rogers. Join The Roar for live scores of the match from around 9pm AEDT.
After making the decision to represent Australia last year, Tomljanovic will play in the Australian Open for the first time in the Green and Gold.
She will be looking to repeat her performance from last year when she made the second round. To do that she will need to defeat Shelby Rogers.
Rogers is one of 13 Americans in action today and rose 50 spots last year in the rankings to move into the top 100 for the first time. A semi-final appearance at the Quebec City event and a finals appearance at the Austrian event last year, put her in that position.
This promises to be close match-up with the two already facing each other three times over the past three years. Tomljanovic leads the head to head 2-1 but Rogers won their last meeting in 2014 at the Canadian Masters. The 6-4 7-6 victory by Rogers was only five months ago, and she will have plenty of confidence from that win.
Tonight’s contest will be about power. Both ladies are physically strong and can hit the ball with plenty of speed. Who is able to control that, and hit the most winners, will win the contest tonight.
Minimising the unforced errors will also be crucial.
It will be interesting to see how the Australian crowd treat Tomljanovic tonight. If it is anything like Brisbane, then Tomljanovic will get plenty of support, and be welcomed with open arms. That could help her tonight and give her an advantage over Rogers.
This should be a close match with plenty of winners in the contest. In a tight contest, the Australian should be too strong for her American rival. It may take three sets but Tomljanovic will book her place in Round 2.
PREDICTION – Ajla Tomljanovic 2-1
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