'ABSOLUTELY ZERO PAIN': TOMLJANOVIĆ, THOMPSON PROGRESS DESPITE INJURY CONCERNS

Ajla Tomljanović and Jordan Thompson have both won through to the second-round of the Australian Open despite lingering injury concerns heading in, playing out a couple of rollercoaster affairs on Margaret Court Arena.

The stands were packed to see the Tomljanović kick off the day. The 31-year-old Aussie was out to begin her 2025 campaign in style, and the first set saw several service breaks for both players before the Australian hopeful took her chance, and the set, 6-4.

The second set was more of the same, and despite Tomljanović serving at 4-3, Krueger found a way back, much to the disappointment of the locals.

Tomljanović had recently pulled out of the Brisbane and Hobart tournaments with a knee injury, so there was a cloud over whether she could stand up to three sets of Grand Slam tennis.

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However, that doubt was short-lived, as she skipped out to a 4-0 lead, capturing the final set 6-4.

Tomljanović was too consistent, hitting 22 winners and 22 unforced errors, while Krueger notched up 33 winners, but an unforced error count of 50 was too much to overcome.

Speaking about her knee afterwards, Tomljanović admitted it’s not even on her mind when she’s on the court.

"I thought about it a lot last year, but I must say, like today, zero. If I get on the stretch, and I feel like maybe I'm not strong from the corner, I'm, like, 'Oh, okay, I need to get stronger there', but there's absolutely zero pain," she told the media.

The Australian Open has never been a happy hunting ground for the three-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist, who has yet to make it past the second-round in nine attempts. However, it doesn’t seem to bother her at all.

"I know I haven't had a great track record in the second rounds here, but it's not for lack of trying or giving it my all. I'm not going to think about past outcomes here."

She will now take on Russian young gun and 12th-seed Diana Shnaider.

Jordan Thompson was next up on Margaret Court Arena, and after pulling out of his Brisbane quarter-final a couple of weeks ago with a sore calf, all eyes were on the Sydneysider, as he took on Germany's Dominik Koepfer.

In a stern test for his body, Thompson took the first two sets 7-6 6-4, before dropping the third 4-6.

The No.27 seed was able to re-group in the fourth, and closed out the match 6-3 to make it through to the second-round in three hours and 15 minutes.

After having the best year of his career in 2024, making a deep run at the Australian Open would be the ideal way to kickstart 2025.

However, as Thompson alluded to later, being a seeded Australian at a home Slam isn’t always easy to deal with.

"Aussie Open, being an Aussie. First-round, it's tricky," he admitted. "Little bit more added pressure being seeded. I think I feel it, if that makes sense, a little bit of added pressure playing at home, being an Aussie, being seeded this time. I feel like I need to do better than I've done."

Somewhat surprisingly, and like Tomljanović before him, Thompson has never made it past the round of 64 at Melbourne Park. He holds a 4-11 record at his home Slam, and that’s something he will hoping to rectify.

Next up for Thompson will be Portugal’s Nuno Borges.

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