Ajla Tomljanović is a 32-year-old Croatian-born Australian professional player, who turned pro in 2009 and represented Croatia until 2018. She started competing for Australia in minor events in 2014 after she was granted permanent residency, and in major events in 2018 after she obtained citizenship.
She has won 4 singles, and 3 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit and is currently in the top 50 in the world.
She was born into a family of athletes; her father, Ratko Tomljanović played handball for Croatia, while her sister, Hana Tomljanović played collegiate tennis for the University of Virginia.
Exciting Facts No One Told You About Ajla Tomljanović
1. She Is The Youngest Of Two Children Born To Her Parents
Ajla Tomljanović was born on May 7, 1993, as the second of two children to her parents in Zagreb, Croatia. Her older sister is Hana Tomljanović.
The 32-year-old has Bosnian ancestry besides her Croatian heritage. Her father, Ratko Tomljanović is Croatian, while her mother, Emina Tomljanović is Bosnian.
2. Ajla Tomljanović Is From A Family Of Athletes
As indicated, Ajla’s father, Ratko Tomljanović played professional handball for Croatia. He won the 1992 and 1993 European handball championships. In addition, he won a bronze and gold medal at the European championships in Portugal and France, and also a silver at the 1995 World Cup in Iceland.
Ajla’s older sister, Hana Tomljanović also played tennis for the University of Virginia, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and women’s studies.
3. She Started Playing Tennis At 6, And Turned Pro At 16
Having been born into a family of athletes, Ajla became interested in tennis at a tender age. In 1999 when she was 6, she started playing.
In 2006, she moved to Florida to train at the Evert Academy in Boca Raton. Two years later, she made her professional ITF Circuit debut in Mexico City, but she was defeated in the semifinals by former Uruguayan player, Estefania Craciun.
Additionally, the Croatian-born competed in a couple of ITF tournaments in Florida, Redding, California, Osprey, Croatia, and Makarska, but didn’t go beyond the second round in all the events.
Later on, the 32-year-old won her first ITF doubles title with her compatriot, Petra Martic on May 10, 2009, in Zagreb. Seven months later, she turned pro at 16.
4. The Croatian-Born Australian Reached Her First WTA Final In 2015, And Broke Into The Top 50
5 years after she went pro, Tomljanović competed in several WTA events such as Shenzhen Open, Mexican Open, Miami Open, Charleston Open, and the French Open. She lost some games and won a couple that improved her rankings from 67 to 63 by the end of 2014.
The following year, she reached her first WTA final at the Thailand Open but lost in the final to Slovakian, Daniela Hantuchova. Despite the disappointing defeat, her world singles rankings went up to 49 but dropped to 66 at the end of 2015.
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5. An Injury Rocked Her 2016 Season
2016 would have been a year for the Croatian-Australian to further improved her rankings, but it dropped to 930 by the end of the season. This is due to an injury she sustained and had to undergo surgery that kept her out of action. She only played at the Brisbane International and the Australian Open.
6. She Became An Australian Citizen In 2018, And Started Representing The Country At Major Tennis Events.
Ajla Tomljanović was granted Australian citizenship in 2018, Which granted her the right to represent the country at all WTA events. Since then, she has competed in three Grand Slam events; the Australian Open (2020, 2021), Wimbledon (2021, 2022), and US Open (2021, 2022)
The road to obtaining citizenship started in 2014 she when obtained permanent residency in Australia. As a result, she could only represent the country at non-Grand Slam events.
Her reason for switching nationalities was that she wanted to compete at the top, and Croatia doesn’t have the resources to sponsor her. When she first started, her parents were her major sponsors.
In choosing to represent Australia, she had access to coaching, nutrition advisers, and training facilities.
7. Tomljanović Idolizes Serena Williams
The Croatian-Australian tennis says she adores former world number one and 23-time Grand Slam winner, Serena Williams. She has been a fan of Williams since she was a kid.
Tomljanović revealed that the tennis legend changed tennis and has done incredibly well for women in sports across the world. She further stated that Serena made a way for many others, and inspired her to chase her dreams.
8. She Has Dated A Couple Of Tennis Players
Tomljanović has been in a relationship with a couple of tennis players. In 2017, she dated her fellow Australian tennis player, Nick Kyrgios for a year. After him, she went on to date Italian tennis player, Matteo Berrettini from 2019 to 2022.
9. Her Career And Endorsements Contributes to Her Net worth
Even though Ajla Tomljanović’s net worth is yet to be revealed at the moment, she has a career prize money of $5.1 million. In addition to what she earns from playing tennis, she makes money from her endorsements as well. She has sponsorship and endorsement deals with a couple of brands, including Original Penguin, Wilson racquets, Nike, K-Swiss, and NoSweat.
10. Ajla Tomljanović Is 5 Feet 11 Inches (180cm/1.80m)
The Croatian-Australian is 5 feet 11 inches (180cm/1.80m) tall.
Comparing her height to that of an average woman in the world, Tomljanović is way taller. According to medicalnewstoday.com, the average height of a woman is 5 feet 3 inches (161cm/1.61m) tall.
Going further, her body weight is 67kg (147lbs).
The 5 feet 11 inches tall player has been playing on the professional level for 16 years and has won 3 singles and 4 doubles ITF titles. She climbed 38th on the singles rankings in February 2022 but dropped to 46 in June 2022. Even though she is yet to win a Grand Slam, there is every possibility that she would in the next 1 or 2 years.
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