Tomljanovic Turns Williams Pressure into Austin Victory
Ajla Tomljanovic rallies from an early hole to defeat Venus Williams at the ATX Open, drawing on mental lessons from her Serena upset, while Dalma Galfi snaps Bianca Andreescu’s WTA return in a tense three-setter.
In the warming Austin sun of the ATX Open’s 2026 first round, Ajla Tomljanovic stared down a living legend. The 32-year-old Australian, who last year reached the semifinals on these hard courts, met Venus Williams for the first time, her wildcard entry a nod to seven major titles and decades of dominance. Down 3-1 in the opening set, Tomljanovic steadied her heavy topspin forehand, turning the match into a 6-4, 6-1 statement of resilience against the 45-year-old American’s vintage power.
Venus broke serve right away, rifling inside-in forehands and capitalizing on two double faults to lead 2-0. Her backhand down-the-line pass for the consolidation evoked the precision that powered her 50-11 season in 2007, when she ranked No. 8. Tomljanovic absorbed the barrage, saving break points with deep crosscourt returns that tested Venus’s movement on the medium-paced surface.
“But somehow Venus and Serena tend to bring the best out in me mentally,” Tomljanovic said in her on-court interview. “Because I always think, ‘What would they do in that moment?' I try to make it work for me, instead of against me.”
Tomljanovic’s edge sharpened in the first set’s middle games, where a sliced backhand winner clipped the tape to deny Venus a 4-2 hold. She converted her chances with inside-out forehands, pulling ahead to 6-4 as the crowd’s murmurs shifted from nostalgia to surprise. This win positioned her as one of only two players undefeated against both Williams sisters, the other being 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu.
Channeling past triumphs amid early nerves
Four years earlier, Tomljanovic etched her name in history by beating Serena Williams 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-1 in the US Open’s third round, the last loss for the 23-time major winner before her 2022 retirement. She has chased that mental clarity ever since, especially after injuries tested her consistency. Against Venus, an inspiration she called out pre-match, Tomljanovic flipped admiration into fuel, refusing to let the intergenerational gap—Venus was already a six-time champion when No. 2 seed Iva Jovic was born in 2007—intimidate her.
The second set stayed competitive longer than the score suggested, with Tomljanovic saving two break points to hold 2-1 in a multi-deuce battle. Her one–two pattern of crosscourt forehand into down-the-line backhand wore down Venus’s defenses, leading to a break for 5-1. Jovic, who advanced 6-3, 6-4 over Anna Blinkova, now awaits Tomljanovic in the second round, bypassing the potential Williams family clash.
“I constantly, in the last four years, try to channel how I was in that match against Serena,” Tomljanovic added post-match. “Because I’ve never felt that since.” With Austin: Scores, Draws, and Order of play charting the tournament’s path, her victory hints at a deep run on a surface that suits her all-court game.
Galfi halts Andreescu’s hard-court revival
Elsewhere, Dalma Galfi outlasted Bianca Andreescu 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in 2 hours and 11 minutes, ending the Canadian’s first WTA main-draw match since Tokyo last October. Andreescu skipped the Australian swing to build a 13-1 ITF record with two titles in January, but the step up exposed transition gaps on the grippy hard courts. Galfi, steady from the baseline, forced errors with deep returns that neutralized Andreescu’s aggressive net rushes.
Andreescu trailed 4-2 in the second but rallied with sharp volleys and crosscourt passing shots to steal it 7-5, saving two match points at 5-3 in the third and holding points to level at 5-5. Galfi responded with a flurry of inside-in winners, pinning Andreescu behind the baseline and sealing the upset. The Hungarian’s second-serve improvements proved crucial, turning potential one–two setups into grueling rallies that sapped the wildcard’s momentum.
As the ATX Open unfolds, Tomljanovic’s mental blueprint and Galfi’s tactical grit set up intriguing second-round tests. Jovic’s youth clashes with Tomljanovic’s experience, while Galfi’s win opens doors against higher seeds. These wildcard battles underscore how hard-court precision and composure can rewrite early draws, promising more shifts in Austin’s steady rhythm.
