The Australian Wimbledon star at the centre of a ‘cheating’ row and an old flame of tennis bad boy Nick Kyrgios is now dating rising Italian star, Matteo Berrettini.
Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic, 28, shocked the tennis world on Saturday when she accused Jelena Ostapenko, 24, of faking an injury, lying and ‘disgraceful behaviour’.
But while the row raged on court 15, on nearby court 3, boyfriend Matteo Berrettini was playing his own match – while asking his coach for updates on 75th seed Ajla.
on nearby court 3, boyfriend Matteo Berrettini was playing his own match – while asking his coach for updates on Ajla.
The couple hooked up in 2019 and have kept fans updated with pictures of their relationship on social media as they jetset around the world to tournaments.
But despite both winning their matches, Rome-born Berretini, 25, admitted the stress of watching her play was too much at times.
‘I feel 10 times more stressed when I’m watching her match than when I’m actually playing my match,’ he said while standing beside Tomljanovic after his third round straight sets win over Aljaz Bedene.
‘I would rather have her playing at the same time. When she’s playing, I’m the most stressed guy on the planet. I would rather play than watch her match.’
The couple (pictured above) hooked up in 2019 and have kept fans updated with pictures of their relationship on social media as they jetset around the world to tournaments.
Tomljanovic (left) – now through to the round of 16 at Wimbledon – previously dated Kyrgios, 26, (right) for almost two years until they broke up in 2017
Tomljanovic – now through to the round of 16 at Wimbledon – previously dated Canberra-born Kyrgios, 26, for two years until they broke up in 2017.
The pair were an item until his partying reportedly proved too much for Tomljanovic when Kyrgios was pictured with two girls outside a London nightclub in 2017.
The women later insisted they had just been innocently drinking together with the now reformed tennis badboy – but it proved to be the end of the relationship.
Tomljanovic deleted all pictures of the two together from social media before meeting her tall, dark and handsome Italian two years later.
Ajla Tomljanovic and Nick Kyrgios (above) were an item until his partying reportedly proved too much when the Canberra-born badboy was pictured with two girls outside a London nightclub in 2017. Ajla deleted all pictures of the two together from social media before meeting her tall, dark and handsome Italian two years later
Like him though, she admits she can’t handle watching her partner play either – and she prefers to either play her own match simultaneously, or watch it unfold on TV.
‘It takes away from the stress when you’re watching from the locker room,’ she added.
‘When he starts, if I just finish and he’s in the third set, I won’t go there, maybe for superstition, unless he’s down to change it up.’
Jelena Ostapenko (R) and Ajla Tomljanovic (L) were involved in a heated clash after their match
And in the wake of Tomljanovic’s bitter on-court spat with Latvian Ostapenko, Berrettini joked: ‘So far it was a great day.
‘Maybe we’re going to fight in the afternoon for no reason but so far it’s a great day!’
The row erupted when Ostapenko was losing 4-0 to Tomljanovic in the second set and Ostapenko told the umpire she was injured and needed a medical timeout.
But furious Tomljanovic raged to the umpire: ‘You know she’s lying, right? We all know.
‘Are you taking into any consideration that she looked fine for an hour and 30 and now there’s an acute injury?’
The Latvian was assessed by the physio and left the court to receive treatment. She eventually returned and Tomljanovic won 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
But the row blew up again as the pair closed in to shake hands, with Ostapenko fuming: ‘Your behaviour is terrible. You have zero respect.’
Tomljanovic replied: ‘You’re the one to talk.’ And Ostapenko snapped back: ‘What? You’re the worst player on tour.’
The row continued in the press conferences as both players traded insults.
Ostapenko (above) called a timeout when Tomljanovic was 4-0 in the final set, which angered her opponent
‘First of all, she cannot say anything because she knows zero about my injury,’ said the 24-year-old, who won the 2017 French Open. ‘And second, it was very disrespectful from her.
‘I had a problem with my abdominal in the second set. I should have called physio earlier, but I was just trying to forget the pain and focus on the game.
‘I think my level today was not good after the first set, because if I played at least 50 per cent I would have beaten her.’
But Tomljanovic insisted: ‘I have been in situations where players use that medical timeout to put their opponent off, usually when they are losing badly.
‘She can say she was injured. I don’t think she was. There was nothing wrong with her the whole match, but then why on 4-0 she calls it? She just wanted to get me off my game.
‘Usually if you are dealing with an injury, you say, ‘Hey, can you call the physio on the next changeover?’ You don’t just go and sit down when your opponent is about to serve to go up 5-0.
Tomljanovic thought Ostapenko was faking the injury in order to break up her rhythm
‘There was nothing wrong with her. I know when someone is injured and when they’re not.
‘Then to top it all off, for her to call me disrespectful at the end of the match — it’s laughable.
‘I think it’s disgraceful behaviour from a Slam champion, because kids look at her and, what, they see that?’
Potential legal ramifications if players are denied medical treatment has hampered attempts to address the issue of players sometimes abusing the medical timeouts.
When Tomljanovic sealed the win, Ostapenko said that her opponent’s ‘behaviour is terrible’
The Australian bit back at Ostapenko saying that the Latvian ‘was one to talk’
Tomljanovic added: ‘There definitely should be a rule where we prevent that from happening, because it happens way too much in the women’s game.
‘But I guess you cannot deny medical help to a player. The thing is you can always lie, but this is where sportsmanship comes into play. No matter the rule, we are elite athletes and I expect more.
‘The fact that she did it at 4-0 when I was about to serve, that’s disrespectful. It’s not what you do, especially at Wimbledon. It’s the pinnacle of sport. I’m just tired of seeing it happen. We can do better than that.’
Tomljanovic will now face 18-year-old British player Emma Raducanu (above) on Monday