"Always happens when you stop caring" - Ajla Tomljanovic shares hilarious reaction to achieving career-high ranking despite long layoff

Ajla Tomljanovic recently achieved her career-high singles ranking of No. 32 despite not having played on the WTA tour so far this season. The Australian had a cheeky reaction to her latest achievement, joking that she often finds success with the rankings when she stops caring about the same.

Tomljanovic last competed at the Billie Jean King Cup late last year to close out her 2022 season. She then withdrew shortly before the United Cup in Australia in January due to a knee problem that later required a procedure, also forcing her to miss her home Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open.

Tomljanovic started the 2023 season at No. 33 in the WTA rankings and has been there and thereabouts ever since. However, she rose to No. 32 in the WTA Live Rankings this week with the Miami Open still ongoing.

The 29-year-old shared her thoughts on the same, reacting to a social media post highlighting that she earned the feat despite a long injury layoff.

"It always happens when you stop caring about it," Ajla Tomljanovic wrote on Twitter.

Tomljanovic had a poor start to the 2022 season, not going past the Round of 32 in any of her tournaments up to the Miami Open. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise of sorts for the Australian this season as she has not yet dropped much further below in the rankings.

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Ajla Tomljanovic is yet to confirm comeback specifics but hints at returning soon

Ajla Tomljanovic during the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

Ajla Tomljanovic is yet to set a date for her return to the tour, but recently hinted that she will make a comeback sooner rather than later. Tomljanovic shared a picture of herself and her coach Alessandro Bega from a past training session, with both the player and coach suggesting that they are not far away from a comeback.

"Looking forward to resuming these deep changeover talks/venting sessions #soonsoon," Tomljanovic wrote on Instagram.

"We will be back soon," Bega commented on the post.

Tomljanovic made back-to-back Grand Slam quarterfinals last season at Wimbledon and the US Open, respectively. She beat Barbora Krejcikova and Alize Cornet at Wimbledon before losing to eventual champion Elena Rybakina. More famously, she beat Serena Williams in what was the American legend's last career match, en route to the last-eight in New York, where she bowed out with a defeat to eventual finalist Ons Jabeur.