Ajla Tomljanovic has held her nerve and faltering serve to blaze her way into the Australian Open second round at Melbourne Park.
The fan favourite overcame eight mostly inopportune double-faults to see off rising American Ashlyn Krueger 6-4 4-6 6-4 in a tense test of mental and physical resilience on Monday.
Dogged by a nagging knee injury for much of the past two years, Tomljanovic's victory avenged a first-round qualifying loss to Krueger at the season-opening Adelaide International only eight days ago.
And the three-time grand slam quarter-finalist had to fight all the way on Margaret Court Arena, hanging on after blowing a 4-0 lead in the deciding set to prevail after a two-hour, 22-minute battle.
"This is probably the place where I get the most excited to play and the most nervous, so to come out and play well and get a win, there's really no better feeling," Tomljanovic said.
"I thought I played against a really tricky player and, having lost last week, it felt great to play her again and get another chance.
"I had some really good practice weeks the last two weeks in Brisbane and in Adelaide as well, but sometimes you can do everything in the preparation, but it really matters how you come out here and deal with everything that comes your way."
Bidding to make the last 32 of the Open for a first time in 10 attempts, Tomljanovic's next opportunity comes on Wednesday against Russian 12th seed Dianna Schnaider.
For all her successes at the other slams, including twice reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals and ending Serena Williams' storied career en route to the last eight at the 2022 US Open, Tomljanovic has never fired at her home major.
