“Those moments are so tough,” Daniolovic recalled to Laura Robson, “but I have a great team behind me. I have family that’s always been supporting me through these nice moments, but also 12 months ago, they were the same as now. I believed in myself, I worked really hard, and now I’m here in the second week!”
She backed up her 2023 run in Paris with an even better result, scoring her first major Top 10 victory en route to the fourth round, and enjoyed a consistent stretch where she won a second WTA title in Guangzhou to guarantee Grand Slam qualifying was, at least for now, a thing of the past.
Unseeded in Melbourne, she endured a difficult draw to upset No. 25 seed Liudmila Samsonova to book a clash with Pegula, who made her first major final last summer in Flushing Meadows. The experience gap made little difference on Rod Laver Arena as Danilovic edged through a tense opening set and opened up her shoulders in the second, showing off her easy power and lefty groundstrokes to secure a 5-1 lead.
Pegula made Danilovic work in the end, saving two match points, but Danilovic would not be denied as she converted a third and booked a fourth-round meeting with former world No. 2 Paula Badosa.
Thanking the substantial Serbian crowd, Danilovic is projected to rise to No. 41 following this tournament—a Top 50 debut all but assured—a career-best major result could see her move even farther up the rankings in the next 48 hours.
