Ajla Tomljanovic and Thanasi Kokkinakis cop fresh blow after double Aus Open heartbreak
The Aussies endured another tough day at the Australian Open.
Fan favourites Daria Saville and Ajla Tomljanovic were knocked out of the Australian Open doubles in round two on Friday, while Aussie duo Thanasi Kokkinakis and Alexei Popyrin were also eliminated in another tough day for locals. Saville and Tomljanovic - who are both eliminated from the singles competition - took to the court to face No.2 seeds Elise Mertens and Hsieh Su-wei.
Unfortunately, the No.2 seeds showed their class having blasted Saville and Tomljanovic off the court in a 6-1 6-1 win. Tomljanovic may have been feeling the fatigue from backing up after a gruelling late night encounter with Jelena Ostapenko in the second round of the Australian Open.
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She threatened to produce a second-consecutive comeback when she took the second set, but eventually fell to her rival 6-0 3-6 6-4. Unfortunately for Australia, Aussie favourites Kokkinakis and Popyrin were also knocked out after losing their doubles match to fellow Aussie John Patrick Smith and German Andreas Mies in the first round.
The Aussie duo were coming off two tough losses in the singles, with Kokkinakis eliminated at the hands of Grigor Dimitov in four sets, while Popyrin pushed World No.1 Novak Djokovic but was also knocked out in four. Although the Aussie duo put that behind them as they won the first set against a fellow unseeded pair.
While the duo, dubbed K-Pop by many on social media, were having fun their opponents managed to step up their game. The doubles specialists were the only two to break in the match and did so in the second and never looked back as Patrick-Smith and Mies won 6-7 6-4 6-4 to end Popyrin and Kokkinakis' run in the Australian Open.
Ajla Tomljanovic puts to bed tennis feud
Tomljanovic and Ostapenko headed into their second round match with plenty of animosity expected after their previous Wimbledon meeting. However, any lingering tension ahead of Thursday's match, and their classy post-match exchange showed it's all water under the bridge.
Both players smiled and shared some nice words as they shook hands following the back-and-forth encounter. "What happened, happened in the past. It's water under the bridge now," Tomljanovic said in her press conference. "I think there is mutual respect between her and I.
"She was really kind with her words when we shook hands at the net and she said she was happy to see me back. As a competitor, I really appreciate. I just said good luck to her."
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