Ajla Tomljanovic couldn’t hide her excitement after helping Australia advance to the semi-finals at the Billie Jean King Cup. Tomljanovic, in 43rd place in the world rankings, defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 and sealed Australia’s victory over Belarus.
In the series’ opening match, Storm Sanders defeated Yuliya Hatouka to give Australia an early lead. “There is no better feeling, I was happy that I was able to get out today and that I got a point makes me incredibly happy.
I just feel like I came here to help the team and I did, that makes me happy, ”said Tomljanovic, as quoted on the Billie Jean King Cup website. When asked what her greatest strength was against Sasnovich, Tomljanovic said: “I think just stay tough.
She played great tennis in the first six or seven games and I just tried to hold on. I grabbed a little break in the second set and played a good set. But then it got tricky, she raised her level in the third game so I think it was a good quality match in the end, but then it got tricky, she raised her level in the third (set) so I think that in the end it was a good quality match. ”
Tomljanovic and Sanders lead Australia to the semi-finals
This week, Sanders took her first win against a top 20 player after surprising Belgian Elise Mertens.
“That was my first top 20 win and the Australian summer is also very exciting for me,” said 27-year-old Sanders. “I had a really good season this year. It’s been a long seven months away from home, it was obviously very difficult to come back to Australia and a lot of us Australian players found it really difficult, but a lot of us have had really great results this year and we can be really proud of that. “Sanders is confident and hoping for a good run in Australia at the start of the season.
“I’m really proud of myself for this achievement [hier] just give me that belief in preseason and then Australian tennis summer, “added Sanders.
–
