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How Ajla Tomljanovic Faced Down Serena Williams and 24,000 Others

On the advice of her father, Tomljanovic channeled Kevin Costner to beat the six-time U.S. Open champion in front of a raucous, partisan crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Ajla Tomljanovic played one of the best matches of her career against Serena Williams.Credit...Corey Sipkin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

When Ajla Tomljanovic was a little girl, she asked her father about a prized photograph of him holding a big trophy on his head. Ratko Tomljanovic was a great professional handball player, winning two European Championships for Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, and was the captain of the Croatian national team; before that, he was a member of the Yugoslavian team.