Ajla Tomljanovic conceded she “wanted it too much” after being consigned to another early grand slam exit at the US Open.
Tomljanovic lamented being unable to convert after taking the opening set in a 6-7 (1-7) 6-2 6-4 first-round loss to Italian Karin Knapp on Tuesday.
The defeat rounded out a disappointing season at the majors for Tomljanovic, who won only three matches at the four big ones after bursting to prominence with a charge to the final 16 at last year’s French Open.
The 22-year-old admitted her desperation to deliver at the slams muddled her mind.
“I really wanted the win, maybe a bit too much and paid the price for it,” Tomljanovic said.
“Your mind is not clear. You just want to win. You don’t think about the process, just taking one point at a time.
“It’s all about the score, the score, the score and it never has good results – and I tend to not learn from these mistakes.”
Believing she’s hitting the ball as well as ever on the practice court is further frustrating Tomljanovic, who feels one breakout tournament could spark a revival.
“Feeling confident is such a big factor in winning matches and going deep in tournaments,” said the world No.62.
“Honestly in slams anything can happen. As we’ve seen yesterday, there’s so many upsets.
“Coming in everyone has a chance.
“If I had maybe won this today, and scrapped it out, and won the next match, you never know.
“That’s how I made it to the fourth round of the French. I never thought I’m going to be in the second week.
“You literally have to take it one match at a time and your confidence goes up without you even noticing.”
Despite the latest setback, the Croatian-born talent – who is also desperately awaiting her Australian passport – is trying to remain upbeat after fighting the doldrums for much of 2015.
After flying solo at Wimbledon following her split from coach David Taylor, Samantha Stosur’s long-time mentor, Tomljanovic has hired South African John-Laffnie de Jager.
“I was a bit iffy, but I need someone,” she said.
“I couldn’t be on my own. I tried that at Wimbledon.
“Now that it’s the end of the year, I think I’m in good spirits considering everything.”
