World No.44 Ajla Tomljanovic fought past world No.37 Alize Cornet 4-6 6-4 6-3 to reach her second consecutive quarterfinal at Wimbledon.
Last year, Tomljanovic overcame Cornet in three see-saw sets during her quarterfinal run in SW19, but this time the victory is special because Cornet is the player who ended top-ranked Iga Swiatek’s 37-match winning streak in the previous round.
Early into this encounter on Court No.2, Tomljanovic twice recovered from a break down and saved a set point when Cornet was serving for the first set at 5-3. However, in the following game Cornet converted her second set point, on Tomljanovic’s serve.
The tables turned in the second set, as this time Cornet was the one who twice erased her opponent’s lead and then lost two straight games from 4-4, so Tomljanovic managed to force a decider.
The final stage of the match was very entertaining, as the always-fighting Cornet built a mini comeback from 1-5 to 3-5 and saved two match points. Still, Tomljanovic won a spectacular 26-shot rally to earn her third match point and converted it for a grueling victory that came in two hours and 35 minutes.
Tomljanovic’s quarterfinal obstacle will be seed No.17 Elena Rybakina, who defeated Petra Martic in straight sets earlier on Monday.
Fashion note: Tomljanovic is wearing the Penguin Core Veronica Dress.
