"If I'm playing her, I might use her tactic" - Ajla Tomljanovic on how she beat Serena Williams in US Open 3R clash
Facing Serena Williams backed by a passionate crowd at the Arthur Ashe Stadium meant Ajla Tomljanovic had to take it one point at a time during their third-round US Open clash. The Australian battled past the American veteran on Friday night, winning 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-1 to book her place in the fourth round.
After losing a tight opening set 7-5, Williams got back into the contest by taking the second in a tiebreak and forcing the decider. However, she couldn't turn around the contest, trailing 5-1 in the third set very quickly. The 23-time Grand Slam champion did save five set points before conceding the contest.
Speaking at her post-match press conference, Tomljanovic stated that she was unaware of how many set points transpired between them.
"How many were there? I won it on the sixth one? I stopped counting after the second. You know what, every match point she saved, it was all credit to her. I didn't feel like I did much wrong. I had this weird, like, calmness because I felt like if I get broken, I mean, so what? Serena broke me. Wow, I'm just like the next person she broke when she's down 5-1," she said.
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She said that the 40-year-old has always played at her best when the chips are down, which is why she stopped keeping track of the number of set points and was only looking to take the match one point at a time - a tactic she copied from Serena Williams herself.
"I know she comes up with her best tennis when she's in the most trouble. I didn't feel like I'm choking it away or something. I thought I was getting outplayed on those match points. I just kept calm and actually took a page of her book. I know Serena one time said she only thinks about the next point. If I'm playing her, I might use her tactic," she said.
"It did get to me a few times internally, it was definitely not easy" - Ajla Tomljanovic on crowd support for Serena Williams
If taking on Serena Williams is one of the most daunting tasks on the WTA tour, facing her at a packed, passionate Arthur Ashe Stadium takes the difficulty level up a few notches. That is exactly what Ajla Tomljanovic faced on Friday.
Earlier, the 29-year-old stated that she would take a leaf out of Novak Djokovic's playbook by convincing herself that the crowd is cheering for her and not her opponent.
Speaking after the match, she said that while she employed the Serb's tactics, the vocal crowd did get to her a few times.
"I did [use the Djokovic rule]. I mean, I used that and I also just really blocked it out as much as I could. It did get to me a few times internally. I mean, I didn't take it personally because, I mean, I would be cheering for Serena, too, if I wasn't playing her. But it was definitely not easy. There was no other way," she said.