Ajla Tomljanovic gave credit to Chris Evert following her Wimbledon last-16 victory as she admits the former 18-time Grand Slam champion has been a great help to her. Evert is a true tennis legend and Tomljanovic is grateful to have a chance to receive tips and advice from the American tennis icon.
On Monday, Tomljanovic recovered from a set down to beat Alize Cornet 4-6 6-4 6-3 and reach the Wimbledon quarterfinal. “Actually, over the past few months, we’ve been talking more than ever. She’s been there for me, like, this year a lot.
It’s been so nice,” Tomljanovic said, per Sportskeeda. “We love each other, so we were there for each other in that way. She texted me before the match [against Cornet] that she believes in me”.
Tomljanovic: Evert helping even during the difficult times
Evert is going through a difficult time as she is battling cancer.
When Tomljanovic learned about that, she didn’t want to bother Evert. However, Evert responded by saying in no way she was bothering her. “I kind of felt at one point bad. She was going through something, if you want to talk about problems in life, that’s something that’s scary.
I remember one time telling her: ‘oh, my Gosh, I don’t want to bother you with my problems because you’re doing something way harder’. She’s like: ‘no, no, I love, in a way, the distraction’,” Tomljanovic said.
Tomljanovic, 29, reached her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon last year before losing to Ashleigh Barty. “She repeated, like, three times: ‘Ajla, you’re in the quarter-finals again’. I think she repeated it, like, because I wasn’t saying much, I was just kind of laughing at her.
She just kept saying how happy she is for me. I said something like ‘can you believe I’m here after, I don’t know, a couple months ago, the conversations we were having,’” Tomljanovic said. Tomljanovic faces Elena Rybakina in the Wimbledon quarterfinal.
