Former world No. 20 Ana Konjuh is back to her winning ways after posting a 7-6 (3), 7-5 win over Katerina Siniakova at the Miami Open on Tuesday. Not only is it Konjuh’s first main-draw victory of the season—having lost in her Dubai opening match and failing to qualify for the Australian Open and St. Petersburg—but more importantly her first since 2018 and four elbow surgeries.
A wild card in Miami, Konjuh erased a 3-0 deficit in the first set and found herself down two breaks in the second before clawing her way to the finishing line.
Konjuh was a junior Australian Open and US Open champion and, in 2015, became the youngest player to win a WTA title since 2006 when she lifted her maiden career WTA title at the age of 17 in Nottingham. A year later, she made her Grand Slam breakthrough by reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open.
The Croat has experienced constant right elbow issues throughout her career, undergoing four surgeries at just 23 years old, starting in 2014. Her recent was in 2019, after being sidelined for a while due to overwhelming pain.