US Open: Tomljanovic earns brilliant win on her first match of the year to make the second round

Ajla Tomljanovic came from a set down against Hungarian Panna Udvardy to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 and advance to the second round of the US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.

Remarkably, this was the Australian’s first competitive match of the season after a torrid year of repeated injury setbacks has kept last year’s quarter-finalist off the tour.

Making use of a protected ranking to enter the US Open, Tomljanovic could be forgiven for keeping her expectations low on her return to the tour at the final Grand Slam of the year.

Terrific Tomljanovic shows few signs of rustiness

However, the Croatian-born Aussie needn’t have worried. She put in an excellent performance – especially given the circumstances – as she went toe-to-toe and ultimately overcame a season-hardened, tough competitor in Udvardy.

The trademark baseline power was back, as was a deftness of touch at the net that seems to have suffered little rustiness during Tomljanovic’s time off tour.

The former World No 32 – currently languishing at No 127 – made a name for herself in New York last year as Serena Williams’ conqueror, putting a final end to the American great’s farewell tour on a raucous night on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Since then, there has been little to celebrate on the match court for Tomljanovic, as a persistent knee injury has decimated her 2023 season.

But it was a triumphant return to competitive action and to Flushing Meadows for the Australian, as she kicks off her 2023 US Open campaign with a hugely impressive win.

The former Wimbledon quarter-finalist had to battle from a break down at 0-2 in the deciding set, gaining parity at 2-2 by breaking the Hungarian’s serve, before breaking again on her first match point at 5-4.

With that, Ajla Tomljanovic announced her return to tour life in some style.

Her reward is a match-up with world No 4 Elena Rybakina in what should be an entertaining second-round battle between two powerful big-hitters.

New York (Grand Slam), other first-round results (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, hard, USD 44.700.000, most recent results first):

• Maryna Zanevska vs. Aryna Sabalenka
• Greet Minnen vs. Venus Williams
• Ana Bogdan vs. Sofia Kenin
• Anna Blinkova vs. Jodie Burrage
• Sachia Vickery vs. Donna Vekic
• Lucia Bronzetti vs. Barbora Krejcikova
• Robin Montgomery vs. Eva Lys
• Barbora Strycova vs. Kaia Kanepi
• Qinwen Zheng vs. Nadia Podoroska
• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Fiona Crawley
• Clara Tauson vs. Anastasia Potapova
• Caroline Dolehide vs. Clara Burel
• Karolina Pliskova vs. Elena-Gabriela Ruse
• Daria Kasatkina vs. Alycia Parks
• Patricia Maria Tig vs. Rebecca Marino
• Elina Svitolina vs. Anna-Lena Friedsam
• Peyton Stearns vs. Viktoriya Tomova
• Camila Giorgi vs. Jessica Pegula
• Tatjana Maria vs. Petra Martic
• Yanina Wickmayer vs. Vera Zvonareva
• Na-Lae Han vs. Marketa Vondrousova
• Martina Trevisan vs. Yulia Putintseva
• Elsa Jacquemot vs. Lesia Tsurenko
• Caroline Garcia vs. Yafan Wang
• Arantxa Rus vs. Madison Keys
• Ashlyn Krueger vs. Marie Bouzkova
• Linda Noskova vs. Madison Brengle
• Ons Jabeur vs. Camila Osorio
• Irina-Camelia Begu vs. Tamara Korpatsch
• Liudmila Samsonova vs. Claire Liu
• Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Leylah Fernandez
• Katie Boulter vs. Diane Parry
• Tatiana Prozorova vs. Caroline Wozniacki
• Kayla Day vs. Sorana Cirstea
• Laura Siegemund vs. Coco Gauff
• Petra Kvitova vs. Cristina Bucsa
• Olivia Gadecki vs. Mirra Andreeva
• Jelena Ostapenko vs. Jasmine Paolini
• Anna Kalinskaya vs. Katerina Siniakova
• Aliaksandra Sasnovich vs. Magda Linette
• Alize Cornet vs. Elina Avanesyan
• Elise Mertens vs. Mirjam Bjorklund: monday
• Xiyu Wang beat Viktoria Hruncakova (LL): 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6)
• Jennifer Brady beat Kimberly Birrell (LL): 6-3, 7-6 (4)
• Lin Zhu beat Mayar Sherif: 6-3, 7-5
• Kaja Juvan (Q) beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto (29): 6-2, 7-5
• Xinyu Wang beat Katie Volynets (Q): 6-3, 6-4
• Elena Rybakina beat Marta Kostyuk: 6-2, 6-1
• Yuriko Miyazaki (Q) beat Margarita Betova: 6-3, 6-3
• Danielle Collins beat Linda Fruhvirtova: 6-2, 6-0
• Bernarda Pera beat Veronika Kudermetova (16): 7-5, 6-4
• Sara Sorribes Tormo beat Anhelina Kalinina (28): 6-4, 7-5
• Beatriz Haddad Maia (19) beat Sloane Stephens: 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
• Lauren Davis beat Danka Kovinic: 6-2, 6-2
• Iga Swiatek (1) beat Rebecca Peterson: 6-0, 6-1
• Rebeka Masarova beat Maria Sakkari (8): 6-4, 6-4
• Anna Karolina Schmiedlova beat Kateryna Baindl: 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
• Taylor Townsend beat Varvara Gracheva: 6-4, 6-2
• Magdalena Frech beat Emma Navarro: 7-6 (10), 1-6, 6-2
• Karolina Muchova (10) beat Storm Hunter (WC): 6-4, 6-0
• Belinda Bencic (15) beat Kamilla Rakhimova: 6-2, 6-4
• Victoria Azarenka (18) beat Fiona Ferro (WC): 6-1, 6-2
• Daria Saville beat Clervie Ngounoue (WC): 6-0, 6-2