100% Aussie!

Tomljanović is on an impressive upward trajectory in Austin. After beating legend Venus Williams, she has just recorded her third win over a top-20 player in four months by overturning No. 2 seed Iva Jović (4-6, 6-4, 6-4). Very impressive from the baseline, she’s defending like a brick wall despite a very fast surface, the crowd, and an Iva who had no answers.

Birrell is having a blazing start to the 2026 season with a semifinal in Adelaide. She outclassed Caroline Dolehide (6-4, 6-2) in the previous round and now has a 9–5 win-loss record this season. We broke down her statistical profile from her last match, and I’m still convinced her victory was more down to overperforming combined with a below-par Dolehide.

Ajla’s match against Iva Jović was a model of tactical resilience: she served with surgical precision, landing 92.5% of her first serves in, a metronomic stat that allowed her to make up for the lack of aces against the power of the young American. But it was above all her steel mentality that made the difference: she saved 6 out of 8 break points (75% success rate), crushing Jović’s hopes in the high-pressure moments to earn herself this all-Australian quarterfinal against Kimberly Birrell.