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Tennis legend Chris Evert is letting fans in on her ever-flourishing bond with Ajla Tomljanovic.
Tomljanovic has been recuperating from a recent knee surgery, which forced her to withdraw from the 2023 Australian Open as well as other tournaments that followed. While on the sidelines, the Aussie player spent some quality time with her long-time mentor Evert and the duo are declaring their love for each other by sharing a picture from their delightful meeting on social media.
“17 years later…LOVE YOU,” Tomljanovic wrote to Evert in a post on Instagram.
“Love you back!,” Chris Evert responded.
“Gotta love this young lady… pure class…” The 18-time Grand Slam champion added in a tweet.
The bond between Evert and the 2022 US Open quarterfinalist Tomljanovic goes back almost 17 years. The latter, who hails from Croatia but currently represents Australia, moved to the United States at the young age of 13. She soon enrolled herself into Evert’s tennis academy in Boca Raton – a decision, she has said, was “the best choice” she could make for her tennis career.
"She'd always be the one that will give all the encouragement" – When Ajla Tomljanovic revealed Chris Evert's role in her life and career
To date, Ajla Tomljanovic has won four ITF titles, featured in four WTA finals and registered a career-high ranking of World No. 33. The athlete has featured in three Grand Slam quarterfinals (2021 and 2022 Wimbledon, and 2022 US Open). The 29-year-old has also gone down in history as the last opponent in Serena Williams’ illustrious career.
Through all these milestones, Chris Evert has been a constant and has played a major part in Ajla Tomljanovic’s life and career. During an interview in 2022, the World No. 34 revealed how the tennis legend has always had her back and offered words of encouragement before matches.
"She's funny because she will text me, she always texts me before my first round, like, 'Good luck, you got this', and then the more I start winning, she will always text me in my day off and be like, 'Hey, get your head in the game, you're not finished here,'" Tomljanovic said.
"So she'd always be the one that will give all the encouragement but always keep me hungry for more and remind me like 'You're not done here'. It's almost like 'I hope you enjoyed yesterday but today, you're thinking about tomorrow'. And I always love that because she's right.” she added.
