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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 21, 2020

Ajla Tomljanovic

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

A. TOMLJANOVIC/A. Sevastova

6-1, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Must be thrilled with that? Where does that rate?
AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: Yeah, this is one of my best wins quality-wise in a slam, first round. Felt really good to be out there. I think from the first point, I felt ready. Felt like I was hitting the ball clean.

Honestly, it felt way, way closer than 1-1, especially in the second set. Those 2-Love games and I think 3-1 were very important. I was gassing a little bit at 2-Love. I was really happy to close it out.

Q. I think it's your first win in five years here. Is that a relief in itself?
AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: Yeah, for sure. I think I've had a couple of tough draws, really heartbreaker last year against Jo.

Coming in, I still thought this was a tough draw. Actually had her two years ago at 6-Love, 3-Love up, ended up losing. I know she never goes away. She's so tricky.

Just have to keep being consistent and aggressive. Yeah, just really pleased to be through.

Q. A win like that, what does that do for your confidence?
AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: It just does a lot. I was playing well in Brisbane and Adelaide. Had a couple of tough losses. Just kind of backing up my quality of game was big. Just shows that that consistency is there, even though it's just the third tournament of the year. Have a couple more weeks to show that consistency throughout.

But it's a good start.

Q. You had a good win against Maria last week at Kooyong and you pushed Simona in Adelaide. How much confidence do you have in your game?
AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: A lot. Just that feeling of feeling good on the court, translating what I've been doing really well in practice into matches. Even though I'm coming out really nervous, because I want to do really well, still being able to weather the nerves, still come out with a good game is really important for me going forward.

Q. Shoulder problems going back a couple years ago. Does it take some time to find your peak? Where do you think you can take your game? How much further do you think you can take it?
AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: Yeah, my shoulder has been really well since surgery. There were no setbacks. I've been working on it a lot, just getting it stronger. It's been a real process of building muscle there.

In a way, it's never going to be the same. But I think my recovery has been really, really good - knock on wood. I'm really pleased. I don't actually know these stats, but I feel like I'm hitting my serve pretty big. Yeah, pretty happy with it.

Q. This may be the second slam you're doing as a fiancée to a player.
AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: Fiancée? What kind of word is that? I think 'fidanzata' in Italian, it means girlfriend. But in English it means fiancée and I'm not a fiancée.

Q. How difficult is it to be in Australia where you're Australian and so on, and you have this Italian guy who is playing also the men's tournament, No. 80 in the world, which he wasn't when you met him?
AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: Are you giving me the credit?

Q. Sure.
AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: I'll take it (laughter).

I mean, it's a nice setup. It's one of my favorite slams of the year -- my favorite slam of the year. Pretty happy off the court, as well. I don't know if that's translating into my game. It's just been a really nice week so far.

Yeah, I would like to keep it going as long as possible. So, yeah, I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but probably.

Q. You are both doing better.
AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: Yeah, so that's great. But I did lose last week. It's not like I'm doing amazing. But we're doing well, doing well, yeah.

Q. Keep doing it.
AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: Yes, keep doing it, okay (smiling).

Q. Back to tennis for a second. Garbine or Shelby next. Thoughts?
AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: I think I played Shelby here five years ago. It was a tough one. I think Shelby is on the rise, back from her injury. I know that feeling when you're back and you're getting matches under your belt, feeling really good about your game.

Garbine is having a good week last week, as well. I don't know what's the score now. I saw it was pretty easy the first set.

I think whoever wins, it's going to be tough for me. Definitely a big-hitting match next round, for sure.

Q. You spoke about the pressure of round one before the tournament. Now that that's out of the way, do you feel like you can win a few matches and go far in this tournament?
AJLA TOMLJANOVIC: Yeah, I mean, it's funny, I feel like I had a really good win. I was on the bike, and I was already thinking about my next round.

That's how tennis is. You don't really have much time to enjoy the wins. I would really like to take time and see how well I've done with this first round. Yeah, maybe start thinking about the next one tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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