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Ajla Tomljanovic recorded a dramatic win in her first grand slam outing as an Australian, becoming the 11th local to reach the second round at Melbourne Park.
The second day of the Australian Open ended with a spirited Tomljanovic fightback, the Croatian-born Brisbane resident downing Shelby Rogers 4-6 6-4 6-0 on the cusp of midnight.
Tomljanovic broke Rogers’ serve six times in the two-hour tussle, the most crucial coming when the second set was well balanced at 3-3.
Momentum shifted suddenly in that set when chair umpire Julie Kjendli asked for a point to be replayed, much to Tomljanovic’s disbelief.
The 21-year-old argued the point.
“She’s already played the ball. There’s no way she was hindered,” Tomljanovic pleaded.
“She thought it was gone.”
Tomljanovic’s appeals were dismissed, but her fire was far from extinguished.
She twice battled back to break point, attacking at almost every opportunity to level it at one set a piece.
The emphatic onslaught continued in the third set, where Tomljanovic reeled off 12 consecutive points to take a 3-0 lead.
Unseeded American Rogers was unable to convert a break point offered in the following game, with Tomljanovic steamrolling her way to victory.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a few months,” she told the crowd, having played the 2011 and 2014 Australian Opens as a Croatian.
“It exceeded every expectation, thank you so much.”
Tomljanovic next faces Varvara Lepchenko.
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