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Ajla Tomljanovic says she's a "glass half-empty" woman when it comes to fretting over her tennis career, but that glass is brimming over right now as she prepares for the biggest match of her career against Ash Barty at Wimbledon.
Australian No.2 Tomljanovic is realistic enough to know it will be one of the great tennis earthquakes if she, the 75th ranked WTA player in her first grand slam quarter-final, beats her mate, the world No.1 and former French Open champion Barty, on Tuesday.
Yet the 28-year-old, who's never fulfilled the lavish expectations once held for her as a brilliant youngster in Croatia, reckons she's at last found a new mental resolve here at Wimbledon which has translated into simply the finest week of her career.
And she's decided the best way to go into her first match with Barty on Centre Court is to follow the same "really, really small steps" that earned her four fine wins here, including those over French star Alize Cornet and ex-Roland Garros champ Jelena Ostapenko.
"I will be honest. I don't think I'm going into matches thinking, 'I'm going to win.' I'm just going in thinking, 'if I take care of myself and what I can do, I have a really good shot'.
"It's been getting me through until the quarters. So I'm not changing anything!"
She's been battling it out here to win matches she reckons she might have once lost, like her painful narrow losses to Simona Halep (2021), Garbine Muguruza (2020) and Sloane Stephens (2014) at the Australian Open.
"I'm just proud that I faced some tough moments in this tournament so far, and handled it well mentally. That wasn't the case sometimes in my career.
"It did play a part in my mind. Okay, is this going to happen again? Am I going to lose it mentally? Am I going to choke or something?
"I do remember all the bad matches I've played, instead of the good ones - me always kind of being glass half-empty.
"Mentally those matches (against Halep, Muguruza and Stephens) took a little bit of a toll. It got to me a little bit. It got in my head.
"But I had to put my head down and keep working and not think about those matches, think in a positive way. It's not easy.
"But I've been working on it. To come through and really work on that side of my mentality, it's been big."
That strength helped her when the crowd were roaring on Emma Raducanu in their last-16 match.
Tomljanovic stayed strong and professional against the new British teenage heroine, having taken the first set before the youngster, sadly, had to pull out with breathing problems.
It was after 9pm by the time her match on Court One finished, because Wimbledon had scheduled Raducanu as prime time evening viewing, while Barty had the luxury of a much earlier start and longer turnaround.
But Tomljanovic wasn't complaining. "I was just happy to get a big court. I would have taken a later slot just to play on Court 1 or Centre. It's so special out there. So I don't mind the quick turnaround."
The advice her boyfriend Matteo Berrettini, who's also in the last-eight of the men's event, gave her before the Raducanu match will ring in her ears too.
"It's going to be a privilege to be out there," he told her. "Just feel the energy."
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A jilted ex-lover vowed to kill love rival Jakob Opacic, brother of NRL player Tom Opacic, before he was found fatally injured on the side of the road, court documents reveal.
Steven Dale Latter, 28, and Benjamin Charles Johnson, 29, both faced Southport Magistrate Court on Monday charged with murder.
Police will allege the pair had been waiting on Nerang-Murwillumbah Road on Friday - the day Johnson's former partner Rheannon Rowe was released from Numinbah Correctional Centre in the Gold Coast hinterland.
Police allege Ms Rowe had been met by her family and her new partner Jake Opacic, whose brother Tom plays for the Parramatta Eels, just after 10am.
As they were leaving the centre, they came upon Ms Rowe's former boyfriend Johnson and Latter parked by the side of the road in a Toyota Camry.
The car's bonnet was up making it appear the vehicle had broken down, police allege in documents tendered to the court.
Ms Rowe and her family stopped and Johnson tried to convince his former partner to return home as Mr Opacic, her new partner, rode on, only to return a short time later.
During an argument, Ms Rowe insisted she was going home with Mr Opacic, who parked 200 metres away, revving his motorcycle as he taunted Johnson "beckoning him to approach".
Ms Rowe fought to keep the men apart as Johnson's anger erupted.
"I'm going to kill him, I'm gonna kill him," Johnson is alleged to have said.
"I'm gonna run him off his bike.
"Jake stole my girlfriend, he rubbed it in my face. I'll f***ing kill him."
Mr Opacic rode off, followed by Johnson and Latter in the Camry and trailed by Ms Rowe and her family.
"After a short distance, they have then observed the black Camry returning northbound and flashing their high beams," police allege.
"Johnson has exited the Camry and said: 'He's come off his bike. We didn't do anything'," the documents state, with a witness claiming he smirked as he spoke.
The family found Mr Opacic and his bike by the side of the road, with a Toyota bumper nearby.
Despite desperate attempts, he could not be revived and died at the scene.
Both accused fled the scene before Johnson surrendered to police at Laidley about 2am on Saturday.
Police impounded a vehicle found in that area which is undergoing forensic examination.
Latter was arrested on the Sunshine Coast on Saturday afternoon.
Johnson appeared in the dock, removing his face mask to mouth "Love you, mum" to his mother in the court gallery, who wiped away tears as he was led from the court.
Latter's defence lawyer Campbell MacCallum said the death was a "tragic incident".
"It is unclear exactly what the allegation is at this stage. The police, of course, are alleging it wasn't an accident," he said outside court.
"Police are alleging that the intention was to murder or take the life of the deceased, but the facts certainly don't completely support that at this stage."
Both defendants declined to be interviewed
The men did not apply for bail and were remanded in custody for mention on August 3.
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Two men accused of murdering Jakob Opacic, the brother of NRL player Tom Opacic, in a Gold Coast crash have faced court.
The 28-year-old came off his motorcycle and died on the Nerang Murwillumbah Road at Natural Bridge on Friday morning.
Police will allege material from the vehicle driven by the pair was found at the scene.
Minutes before the incident, Opacic was involved in an argument with Steven Dale Latter, 28, and Benjamin Charles Johnson, 29, who were both mentioned in Southport Magistrates Court on Monday.
Mr Opacic, whose brother Tom plays for the Parramatta Eels, had reportedly been at the jail visiting a woman on the day of her release.
Johnson surrendered to police at Laidley about 2am on Saturday.
Police impounded a vehicle found in that area which is undergoing forensic examination.
Latter was arrested on the Sunshine Coast on Saturday afternoon.
Johnson appeared in the dock, removing his face mask to mouth "Love you, mum" to his mother in the court gallery, who wiped away tears as he was led from the court.
Latter's defence lawyer Campbell MacCallum said the death was a "tragic incident".
"It is unclear exactly what the allegation is at this stage. The police, of course, are alleging it wasn't an accident," he said outside court.
"Police are alleging that the intention was to murder or take the life of the deceased, but the facts certainly don't completely support that at this stage."
Mr MacCallum said outside court that it appeared the defendants were the sole witnesses to the incident, and police would allege material from the car the pair was driving was located at the scene.
"Apart from that, there are no eyewitnesses to the collision."
Both defendants declined to be interviewed
"I understand everything was quite calm at the correctional centre and there was some sort of altercation later on, but it is unclear whether that altercation had actually anything to do with the deceased."
"He [my client] is quite shocked and upset ... he certainly is very despondent at the moment."
Both men did not apply for bail and were remanded in custody for mention on August 3.
Investigations continue.
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Business leaders are urging federal, state and territory leaders to set firm vaccination targets to reopen Australia.
The business community has welcomed a four-step plan agreed to by national cabinet to end lockdowns and border restrictions.
But they are concerned key details are still missing, with no firm dates for reopening or clear thresholds for vaccination rates.
Scientific modelling is underway to determine the vaccine thresholds.
Business leaders want to see realistic and achievable vaccine targets to give people hope after 18 long months of pandemic pain.
There is some concern political leaders have been extremely cautious and risk averse.
Jenny Lambert from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry warned the national plan could fall apart if state premiers ignored targets and timelines.
"We need to make sure we get open and stay open. We need to be mindful that businesses can't survive forever," she told Sky News on Monday.
"We can't continually go from open to lockdown to open to lockdown."
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is hopeful the vaccine targets will spell the end to lockdowns and business restrictions.
He wants Australia to get to the stage where coronavirus is treated like other infectious diseases.
"We have to create a society where we live with the virus like we do with the flu on measles and mumps - we don't want them but we don't close down the economy because of them," Mr Joyce told the Seven Network.
"That's precisely what we're doing and I think the states are now coming on board with that idea. That sets a nation up in a much stronger place."
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has identified an 80 per cent vaccination rate to reopen international borders.
But before that happens, Liberal MP Tim Wilson has suggested a more modest target to clear the first hurdle towards normality.
"Frankly, if we're going to move past the first stage, it's going to be somewhere around 60 per cent," he told Sky.
Meanwhile, about 500 GP clinics will start giving the Pfizer jab to patients aged between 40 and 59 this week.
A further 800 GPs are expected to come on board during July and August as the national vaccine program ramps up.
Vaccine supply has been the biggest issue for the rollout, with tens of million of Pfizer doses set to arrive in Australia over the next six months.
In anticipation of the ramp up, the federal government is determined to get as many GP clinics and state-run vaccination centres as possible geared up and ready to go.
Opposition health spokesman Mark Butler said the country was hostage to Pfizer supplies, criticising the Commonwealth for failing to secure more alternatives.
Mr Butler also poked holes in the planned roadmap out of restrictions.
"The lack of detail, the lack of timeframes and milestones means that everyone really is sort of muddling their way through this because the prime minister is not being clear with us," he said.
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