Aussie's awkward reality after Barty retirement

Ajla Tomljanović admits she wasn't acceptable to regenerate Ash Barty arsenic the top-ranked pistillate successful Australian tennis but says she has "welcomed the position".

The Croatia-born Australian is acceptable for her archetypal location summertime arsenic Barty's heir evident arsenic she eyes the United Cup and Australian Open.

The satellite No.33 took clasp of the mantle when Barty sprung a status daze astatine the property of 25 successful March and is present pushing to travel successful the Queenslander's footsteps arsenic Australian Open champion.

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"Well, I wasn't truly acceptable for it due to the fact that ... it's by default due to the fact that she left, truthful it wasn't truly earned," Tomljanović told James Bracey connected Wide World of Sports' The Happy Slam podcast.

Ajla Tomljanović "welcomed the position" arsenic the top-ranked pistillate successful Australian tennis aft the status of Ash Barty, but not initially. (Kin Cheung/AP)

"But I definitely, you know, welcomed the position.

"I don't deliberation astir it excessively much, but the much you guys inquire maine astir it, the much I speech astir it, and I realise that it's beauteous cool.

"And secretly ... I privation to support (the apical Australian pistillate title) adjacent though I privation arsenic galore Aussies successful the apical 100 doing well.

"But it's similar a small spot of steadfast contention that I deliberation is bully for us."

Tomljanović has teamed up with Alex de Minaur, Jason Kubler, John Peers, Zoe Hives, Maddison Inglis and Sam Stosur for the inaugural United Cup — an 18-team, mixed-gender contention being played crossed Sydney, Perth, and Brisbane.

Listen to each six episodes of The Happy Slam podcast on Apple and on Spotify, featuring in-depth interviews with tennis legends Pat Rafter, Jelena Dokic, Jim Courier, Dylan Alcott, Todd Woodbridge, and Australia's existent apical WTA subordinate Ajla Tomljanovic.

The 29-year-old is hoping to replicate connected Australian ungraded the sizzling overseas signifier that saw her contention 2 quarter-finals successful singles expansive slams this year.

She reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for a 2nd twelvemonth successful succession and made the last 8 successful New York, sharpening her mindset for different Australian campaign.

"I don't deliberation I've been this excited for 2023 to rotation astir and I truly emotion that feeling of conscionable being truthful bare and I indispensable beryllium honest: I wasn't truly reasoning that mode for the past fewer years," Tomljanović said.

Watch Team Australia instrumentality connected the satellite successful the United Cup, unrecorded and exclusive on 9Now and Stan Sport.

"It was ever conscionable 'OK, convey god, similar it's implicit now, we tin remainder and chill a small bit'.

"But I'm benignant of successful a antithetic mindset this clip and I truly similar it. And I don't cognize if it's owed to maine conscionable learning a batch astir myself this twelvemonth and doing better.

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"It's the champion twelvemonth I've had playing 2 quarters.

"I'm the benignant of idiosyncratic I request to beryllium myself things implicit and implicit again to truly judge it.

"And I deliberation playing a quarter-finals 3 times makes maine calm and successful the information that, you know, I tin support doing this and possibly adjacent better.

"So there's a small spot much motivation, calmness astir my tennis close now."

Tomljanović moved to Australia successful 2014 and began competing nether the Australian emblem astatine the US Open of that year, sparking backlash successful Croatia.

She became an Australian national successful 2018.

"I'd accidental aboriginal connected successful my nonrecreational career, I was astir possibly 20 erstwhile we (Tomljanović and her parents) started to speech astir it (moving to Australia)," she said.

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"It was a small spot funny. I mean, I person household successful Australia and conscionable going determination ever felt truthful acquainted successful a unusual way. And erstwhile the accidental arose that, you know, I could play for Australia and it would really beryllium a anticipation ... I mean, I jumped connected it due to the fact that it was ever thing I benignant of wanted and I got truthful excited erstwhile it archetypal came up.

"But past it took a portion for maine to get my citizenship, possibly 3 years oregon 2 years.

"I played nether the Aussie emblem but conscionable successful the slams, and past it would beryllium nether Croatia, and it confused radical a lot. So I would ever person to explain: 'No, no, similar it's going to beryllium afloat Aussie each the mode soon' ... and erstwhile I got it, it conscionable felt right.

"And past I deliberation playing Fed Cup successful the Olympics truly benignant of solidified maine arsenic an Aussie. I privation to accidental however grateful, humbled and arrogant I americium to beryllium connected this team. It's been possibly 5 days that we walk unneurotic arsenic a team.

"And I deliberation it takes a peculiar radical of radical to marque maine consciousness similar I've been portion of this squad for a agelong time. And you guys person managed to bash that truthful far.

"This is astir apt the item that I've been a portion of."

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