Tomljanovic, the only non-American in the event, may feel the urgency of time more acutely than the other women right now. Two weeks ago, she turned 27, which takes her from her mid-20s to her late-20s—still a big shift, psychologically, for a tennis player. Highly touted a decade ago, the rangy Australian has lacked the consistency of the top players for most of her career. In 2019, though, she had something of a surge, reaching a final in Thailand, beating Aryna Sabalenka in Miami, and topping out at a career-high No. 39. Since then, she has fallen back to No. 56, and her best shot of 2020 may have come during a press conference at the Australian Open. Asked about being ATP player Matteo Berrettini’s “fiancée,” Tomljanovic rolled her eyes and denied that she was any such thing. When she was asked if she preferred to be called Berrettini’s “girlfriend” instead, she said, “I guess. Ajla would be great, too.” Personally, I’ve always thought Tomljanovic had Top 20 potential. She says she’s happy off the court; maybe that can start to translate on the court when the lockdown is over.
Like Tomljanovic, Collins is a year removed from a career-best result. The 26-year-old American started 2019 with a stunning run to the Australian Open semifinals. But instead of conquering the tour, she found herself suffering from mysterious aches and pains. Finally, last October, the mystery was solved when she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. “It has been somewhat of a relief and completely validating to understand the cause of my pain,” Collins said. After reaching a career-high No. 23 last year, the Florida native has drifted back to No. 51. That doesn’t mean Collins has lost any of her famous confidence or competitive moxy. She must have a few—or a few thousand—“Come on!”s bottled up in her by now.
If any of these four women looked destined for bigger things in 2020, it was Riske. Last year, at 29, she reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and ascended to a career-high No. 18. Her flat-hitting style, which had looked disjoined at times in the past, began to click. How has the newly married Pittsburgh native been spending her quarantine? If you go by her Twitter account, she’s had a pretty relatable spring: She has spent it watching Tiger King and The Last Dance, and compulsively browsing realtor.com. Last week, Riske was back on the court, trying to find her timing again. She said it wasn’t easy, but that’s what exhibitions are for, right?
If anyone could have used some time away from the tour to collect herself and clear her head in 2020, it was Anisimova. Last summer, just before the US Open, the teenager’s father and longtime coach, Konstantin, died of a heart attack at 52. Anisimova pulled out of the Open, but couldn’t leave the court behind for long. “The only thing that helps is just playing tennis,” she told The New York Times. “That’s what makes me happy.” But mixing training with grieving was hard, and Anisimova ended up in tears after an early loss at the Australian Open in January. In March, she split with her new coach, Carlos Rodriguez, after two tournaments together. “No one can beat you up more than yourself,” the introspective Anisimova wrote on Twitter this spring. Maybe being away from the tour will give her a chance at a fresh start and a new perspective. She was a Grand Slam semifinalist at 17; nothing should hold her back for long.