Tomljanovic upsets Jovic to return to Austin quarterfinals; Stearns only seed remaining

One round after defeating 45-year-old former World No. 1 Venus Williams, Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic scored a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 upset over 18-year-old Iva Jovic -- the youngest player in the Top 100 -- on Thursday night in Austin to seal a spot for in the quarterfinals for the second straight year.

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Tomljanovic's win against World No. 18 Jovic, who was the highest seed in the ATX Open draw after top seed and defending champion Jessica Pegula withdrew before her first-round match, was a long time coming. Though it was her second Top 20 win of the year, it is her first against a player other than Clara Tauson since the 2022 season. Dating back to two victories over then-No. 4 Paula Badosa and then-No. 18 Veronika Kudermetova at the Cincinnati Open that year, Tomljanovic had been 2-20 against Top 20 opposition, with both wins coming against Tauson in the last four months.

A three-game swing in the second set helped last year's semifinalist claw her way back into the match. Trailing 6-4, 2-1, Tomljanovic won 11 straight points across three games that put her ahead 4-2. In the final set, she broke in the opening game and finished strong after Jovic leveled the decider at 4-4 from 4-2 down.

"It was really important to not let her get away with the scoreline in the second -- just to stay close, keep my serve, and try to see for the looks on her serve to break," Tomljanovic said post-match. "It was a really high-level match, and she pushed me to play my best today. I knew that would be required today, and you never know on the day if you'll be able to come up with the goods or not, so I'm really thrilled to have had a great match.

"It's really nice to hang with -- you know, she's No. 18 in the world, she's so young, she's such an amazing player -- and to play good tennis, I feel like I've come a long way since maybe even last year, so that progress makes me excited, and just playing matches like this is what you look forward to as a professional tennis player."

Tomljanovic will face compatriot Kimberly Birrell in the final eight and rounds out a quarterfinal that will feature just one seeded player -- local favorite Peyton Stearns. The former University of Texas Longhorn secured her own quarterfinal berth with a dominant 6-0, 6-2 effort against Slovenia's Kaja Juvan.

Also through on Thursday was American Ashlyn Krueger, who backed up her opening upset of No. 7 seed Caty McNally with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Anastasia Zakharova. The former World No. 29, now ranked No. 103, hadn't won back-to-back matches in nearly a year before this week, last doing so at the Miami Open last March.