18-year-old Maya Joint is making waves in the tennis world, earning a spot in the Australian Open main draw alongside a promising group of Australian female players.
In 2022, the 'Barty party' came to an abrupt end when Ash Barty, fresh off her home grand slam win and at world number one, announced her retirement to the shock of the tennis world. This left a gap in Australian talent in women's tennis. While it's a cavity yet to be filled, there's growing optimism around the up-and-comers, including 18-year-old Maya Joint. She gained the attention of the global tennis crowd when she secured a shock semifinal berth at the Hobart International this month.
On her way there, Joint defeated Australian Open 2020 champion Sofia Kenin, world number 38 Magda Linette, and world number 53 Olga Danilovic before second seed Elise Mertens ended her campaign. This follows a major breakthrough earlier this year with her first grand slam main draw singles win at the US Open, defeating Germany's Laura Siegemund. Joint is one of eight Australian women competing in the main draw at the Australian Open, six of whom are under the age of 26. Joint is a dual citizen and was raised in Michigan. She represented the USA early in her junior career before switching allegiance in mid-2023. One of her goals for 2025 is to get inside the top 100 and play all four slams. 'It's really nice to be a part of such a great group of girls. We all support each other. We all message each other after matches, win or loss. It's really nice to be a part of that,' Joint said. There are other promising young talents in the Australian lineup, including Kim Birrell, who is Australia's highest-ranked woman at 99, Olivia Gadecki, who earned a spot in the main draw, and five wildcards in Daria Saville, Alja Tomljanovic, Talia Gibson, Joint, and Jones, and Destanee Aiava who made it through qualifying. None are expected to have particularly deep runs — particularly with brutal draws. Joint is up first against US Open finalist Jessica Pegula, while Jones has 2023 Australian Open runner-up Elena Rybakina. But the youngsters have been causing upsets already this year. Jones beat world number 37 Wang Xin from China in straight sets in the Adelaide International. Meanwhile, Birrell had an impressive run at the Brisbane International, where she upset world number eight Emma Navarro and fell agonisingly short of a semifinal spot to Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina.Ajla Tomljanović, a veteran player, expressed her confidence in the younger generation. 'We've got a few players who have been around the block, like myself, and we're still capable of doing some damage. Then there's this younger generation like Emerson and Liv who have such a bright future,' Tomljanović told ABC Sport. 'There is that middle like Kim Birrell, who are settling into their primes and it took some time. I think that's all about belief because I had a similar path. 'To see Kim have such a big week in Brisbane and then come and back it up in the qualifiers, I can tell you first-and that's not an easy thing to do.
AUSTRALIAN TENNIS MAYA JOINT GRAND SLAM UP-AND-COMERS YOUNG TALENTS
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