UPDATE 6pm: Rising Ukrainian Elina Svitolina has stopped wildcard Ajla Tomljanovic in her tracks at the Brisbane International on Tuesday, just days after the Australian sent former world No.1 Jelena Jankovic packing.
The world No.28 needed just 1h 16mins to get past her 63rd-ranked opponent, 6-3 6-2, and will meet third seed Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals, after the German earlier put out Australian qualifier Daria Gavrilova in straight sets.
Svitolina had downed Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova for the loss of just two games in the opening round.
Afterwards, Tomljanovic lamented her missed opportunity to take advantage of the hole in the draw she had created.
“It was a tough day for me. Couldn’t get much rhythm out there today, and I thought she played pretty smart, got a lot of balls back,” Tomljanovic said.
“Pretty disappointing for me. I thought I could have given her a better fight. It’s the start of the season so I’m not going to get too down on myself. Tomorrow is a new day, and just got to work harder.”
This year marked the first time she had played in front of her new home crowd and it left the world No.63 hungry for more.
“(I) definitely learned from even the win against Jelena and the loss today. I think I’m generally playing well, just got to keep moving forward. It’s really a joy to play in front of this crowd,” she said. “I’m really enjoying it. Just got to work a little harder.”
> Watch match highlights here (only available outside Australia):