By Alberto Amalfi | Sunday, January 4, 2015

Ajla Tomljanovic staged a successful homecoming comeback in her newly-adopted Brisbane base. The Croatian-born baseliner bounced Jelena Jankovic out of the Brisbane International, 7-6 (6), 6-0, on Sunday.

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Tomljanovic, who moved to Brisbane in November, is coached by Australian David Taylor, receives funding from Tennis Australia and is expected to receive Australian citizenship sometime in the coming months, spent much of the opening set trying to settle down and get even. The world No. 63 was down a break three times then stared down double set point at 4-6 in the tiebreaker.

Finding her range and punishing the Serbian's serve, Tomljanovic went on a four-point run to snatch the 71-minute opener.

Tomljanovic won 10 of 12 points played on Jankovic's second serve in the second set, converting three of 10 break points to seal a one hour, 45-minute victory. She is fluent in Croatian, English and German and trained extensively at the Evert Academy in Florida in recent years. A lack of funding in her native Croatia was a primary reason Tomljanovic opted to move Down Under and while she is proud of her Croatian roots she says she's enjoying the transition to Aussie life.

"My roots are Croatian — it's not like I'm trying to completely forget about where I was born," she said. "But embracing the Aussie culture and playing for Australia, it's really an honor. This month of tennis is going to pretty amazing. I'm just very grateful."

American Varvara Lepchenko upset Australian No. 1 Samantha Stosur, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, in the evening session. Tomljanovic will face Elina Svitolina in round two, while enjoying a growing comfort level — and crowd support — in her new home.

"I came here on November 2 and I didn't know what to expect," Tomljanovic said. "When I got here, everyone welcomed me so nicely. I really didn't think it would go that well. I was so pleased. The more time I spend here it just gets better. So I'm actually really happy."