"I was a little scared that I came off in a different way" - Tomljanovic on match against Serena

Ajla Tomljanovic was worried she would come off in the wrong way after her match against Serena Williams at the US Open.

Tomljanovic wasn't particularly thrilled about having to play Serena Williams at the US Open as she feared fans would hate her for beating her at the US Open. She did just that but after seeing the reactions to her play and win over Williams, she was relieved to see fans thought she was respectful:

"I was a little scared that I came off in a different way, then I read a lot of stuff where I was in a positive light, I was described as, which felt really nice. All I wanted to do in that match was just respect Serena [Williams'] legacy, but at the same time I wanted to win. For that to come off that way, I was happy about that."

The win over Williams filled her with determination to go even deeper as the Australian is a late bloomer playing the best tennis of her career a few years into her career:

"It's been a little tough just because a lot of people came up to me personally, you know, said what they said. That felt really nice. At the same time it did drain my energy a little bit. But I think my will to go further in this tournament was really strong and I didn't want to stop just after what happened on Friday night. I thought I deserved more. I definitely wanted to go for more. I dug deep because I felt like I had more left in me."