Ajla Tomljanovic in brutal moment after rival's 'disgraceful' act

Ajla Tomljanovic has suffered a brutal loss to Jelena Ostapenko in Eastbourne in their first singles meeting since the ugly drama that erupted at Wimbledon last year.

The defending champion in Eastbourne, Ostapenko beat Tomljanovic 6-4 6-4 on Tuesday to advance to the third round.

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The Aussie women's No.1 had made a promising start at the Wimbledon lead-up event, beating Aleksandra Krunic in the first round on Monday.

However she couldn't continue her good form against Ostapenko, with who she feuded at Wimbledon in 2021.

The Aussie clashed with Ostapenko in the third round of the grass-court grand slam 12 months ago and labelled the former French Open champion 'disgraceful'.

Tomljanovic accused Ostapenko of lying about being injured when she took a controversial medical timeout late in their match, which the Aussie won 4-6 6-4 6-2.

With Ostapenko trailing 0-4 in the deciding set, the Latvian called for the trainer in what Tomljanovic thought was a deliberate attempt to halt her momentum.

"You know she's lying, right? We all know," the 28-year-old Australian told the chair umpire at the time.

"Are you taking into any consideration that she looked fine?"

Tomljanovic was also filthy that Ostapenko was allowed to leave the court for treatment, resulting in a 10-minute delay.

The pair had an angry exchange at the net after the match, with Ostapenko labelling the Aussie 'disrespectful'.

"She can say she was injured. I don't think she was," Tomljanovic said in her post-match press conference.

"There was nothing wrong with her the whole match, but then why on 4-0 she calls it? So I think that that's a clear reason that she just wanted to get me off my game.

"Then to top it all off, for her to call me disrespectful at the end of the match is laughable.

"I think it's disgraceful behaviour from someone that is a Slam champion, because kids look at her and they see that?

"I'm sorry, if she was injured, she could have gone about it in a way better way."

Ostapenko, who won the French Open in 2017, insisted her injury was genuine and that the pain had become increasingly worse as the match wore on.

"I think it was very disrespectful what she did. I mean, how can you say 'liar' or something if you know zero about my injury," said the Latvian.

"You cannot say that. In front of everybody, call me liar? I don't think it's respectful from her side.

"So that's what I said, you are a very bad player because of this behaviour. That's it. You are winning, but it does not mean you can do everything you want."

While there was no repeat of the dramas on Tuesday, fans were quick to recall the fiery exchange.

Huge shocks as seeds crash out of Eastbourne

Elsewhere at Eastbourne, Katie Boulter stunned last year's Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Pliskova to claim the first top-10 scalp of her career.

The World No.127 beat the fourth seed 1-6 6-4 6-4.

And there was another major shock for a British player as Jodie Burrage knocked out top seed Paula Badosa 6-4 6-3.

Serena Williams also enjoyed a successful return to competitive tennis after 12 months on the sidelines, combining with Ons Jabeur to beat Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova 2-6 6-3 13-11.

Williams was granted a wildcard to play in Eastbourne and will also make her grand slam return at Wimbledon next week.

with agencies

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