Australian star Ajla Tomljanovic has advanced at the Adelaide International after her opponent Clara Tauson succumbed to an injury in the round of 32.

Tomljanovic took out the opening set 7-6(5) and looked to be back to her best after a tricky period with injury concerns of her own in recent years.

The 32-year-old was preparing to head back onto the court when the physio was called to courtside to attend to Tauson, who appeared in a significant level of discomfort.

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“The physio has been called to centre court, which is never a good sign,” commentator Liz Smylie said.

Clara Tauson speaks to the physio. Stan Sport

The world No.14 was then seen speaking to the physio and moments later, Tauson shook hands with the chair umpire and Tomljanovic, signalling a premature end to the match.

“There is some strapping on her leg that she went out with, but I never saw any kind of dramatic movement,” Smylie said.

“This doesn’t look too good, I think this might be it. What a disappointing way to end this first round match here … no player likes to win by default.”

The walkover win is certainly not the ideal way for Tomljanovic to continue her Australian Open preparations, but the former world No.32 was still happy with her performance.

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“It’s never easy to play someone that’s a bit hampered and the fact she couldn’t keep going tells you that something is really wrong,” the Aussie said post-match.

“I feel really sorry, but I did compete really hard in the first set. We had two tough battles last year, so I knew coming in that every point would be important.

“I had a really good pre-season and I’m just a great frame of mind. You’ve got to keep going, with any setback I just never give up and find solutions.” 

Tomljanovic has already earned a spot in the main draw for the grand slam and will look to keep building her momentum this week in Adelaide.

The luck didn’t extend to the men’s side of things in Adelaide however, with Alexei Popyrin going down in straight sets against Reilly Opelka.

The towering American was pushed to his limits by Popyrin in the second set, but it was Opelka who walked away with the 6-3, 7-6(8-6) victory.