A year ago, Ajla Tomljanovic was in the midst of her star turn at the US Open. Her run to the quarterfinals was chief among the moments chronicled in the first season of Netflix's tennis documentary series "Break Point," and also saw her cement her place in tennis history (and in pub trivia) by being the last player to ever beat Serena Williams.
On Day 1 of the 2023 tournament, Tomljanovic was writing a much different, but equally sweet, chapter in her career's story.
Sidelined for 10 months after a left knee injury that required surgery, the Croatian-born Aussie made a winning return to the tour with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over Hungary's Panna Udvardy on Court 4. It was her first competitive match action since November.
"In a way, I feel like I have no business being in the second round," Tomljanovic told reporters after the 1 hour, 54-minute effort, where she came from 2-0 down in the third set to win.
"This was just a huge test for me. ... I did more than I thought I could, and I barely got over the line, and that tells you something. I'm thrilled that I got to experience these emotions and the atmosphere was amazing.
"I tapped into my competitiveness. That felt like all heart. I wish it felt better physically than it did, but I'd be stupid to be complaining, sitting here being in the second round. It just felt like that reward after so many months of just torture."
In the US Open-centric episodes of the Netflix series, which dropped on the streamer before Wimbledon this summer, Tomljanovic is perhaps at her most raw and real in the aftermath of her win over Williams, where she tells cameras in a confessional that she felt like the most hated woman in New York
But when she arrived on Court 4 Monday, she was warmly—nay, raucously—greeted by a standing-room only crowd that packed in to see her in the shadow of Arthur Ashe Stadium, the scene of her historic Round 3-win over the all-time great last year.
"A few people know me now in New York, I don't know what's going on," she joked, drawing laughter from herself and the assembled journalists.
"It does not feel bad, let me tell you," Tomljanovic continued. "The roar when I came out compared to her, and I was like, 'Oh my God,' it feels super nice. I guess everyone from last year felt bad, so they're like, 'We're going to go cheer on this year. The girl hasn't played 10 months.'
"But no, it's been amazing. With 'Break Point' coming out, I've had a lot of people come up to me while I was rehabbing ... A lot of people were watching and little kids were getting inspired to play. That's something I never thought I'd do with my tennis is inspire another kid. When I hear that, it feels it feels pretty good."
With rolling cameras an omnipresent part of Tomljanovic's life over the last year—and her father Ratko the breakout star of her "Break Point" episodes—it made all the sense in the world both also played a role in her road back to the big time.
“My dad was like, ‘Don’t ever tell me you can’t do something,’” she said. "I have a lot of videos I took of myself rehabbing and talking to a camera because I wanted to have proof of what it felt like. At this stage of my career, going through an injury is very different.
"Even today, losing the first set, I thought to myself, ‘This crowd is awesome. I would not want to be anywhere else, even if I don’t come up with a win. I’ve been working for these two hours of pure adrenaline, joy, problem-solving and competing.’"
But she can't make a comeback on her own. Relieved to be pain-free after a punishing physical effort, in which she came from 2-0 down in the final set, she said a true team effort will be needed to get herself ready for a Round 2 showdown with Elena Rybakina.
"There was no sharp pain, no nothing," she said. "It was just a lot of a lot of tiredness in that leg after the first set, and like I said, it's nice to just tap into your heart and come up with something that I didn't think I had In me."
Tomljanovic will assuredly be back on center stage in her next match when she takes on the No. 4 seed and 2022 Wimbledon champion, but she'll think hard about that after she "just chills" for a bit on Tuesday, she says.
Now, she's just enjoying the moment.
"Don't talk to me about Elena," she said with a laugh, before adding: "Elena is a great player, and it's going to be a toughie."
“My physio is my best friend right now,” she continued with a smile. “I’m not used to that. Usually I’m like, ‘OK, dinner, ice bath,’ but now I’m like, ‘OK, we need to work some magic tomorrow.’”
