Nice matchup here!

Ajla, 32 years old and world No. 85, is having a dream start to the tournament in California. After struggling through some tough seasons because of her knees, the Australian, coached by Alessandro Bega, seems to have found her 20-year-old legs again. She swept aside Elena-Gabriela Ruse, then Xinyu Wang (6-3, 6-1) without flinching, showing a cleanliness in her game we hadn’t seen in a long time. A huge basketball and Rihanna fan, Ajla is a rhythm player who loves to dictate rallies with her devastating backhand. She often trains with her father Ratko, who remains her emotional rock on tour. Huge defense shown here in IW!

The anecdote from the previous match says a lot about Ajla’s mindset: she won 90% of her points behind her first serve against Wang, a boss-level stat. Jasmine, on the other hand, had to save crucial break points in the second set against Potapova to avoid collapsing, once again proving her usual mental resilience. Paolini will look to use her loopy trajectories and her cross-court forehand to make Tomljanović run, but Potapova had all the space she needed to give Pao a hard time.

Head-to-head in favor of the Italian, but on clay, not the Australian’s favorite surface! On hard courts, it’s a different story. An in-form Australian, bold and assertive; dominating in rallies against a Top 10 player who’s being pushed in every match! The pure 2026 stats also give a clear edge to Alja! I was surprised by the numbers!