Australia’s little-known number one woman tennis player firing in Adelaide
After an epic first round win from Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Adelaide International late last night, the top ranked Australian woman aims to emulate his deeds today. Richard Evans speaks exclusively to Maya Joint for InDaily.
It would not have been a great surprise had 19-year-old Maya Joint been something of a rabbit in the spotlight when she turned out for a press conference at Memorial Drive on Sunday afternoon.
Just two days before, the newly crowned – yet almost wholly anonymous – Australian number one female player had been trounced 6-1, 6-1 by Iga Swiatek in front of 10,000 fans and the national TV cameras at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney.
“Our great Australian Open (AO) hope doesn’t have much hope at all,” was one particularly snide newspaper intro which, on the face of the one scoreline alone, arguably has some traction.
Though clearly not with Maya.
“Yeah, she was really good wasn’t she?” is not a typical response after a walloping but is undoubtedly refreshing. “This sport doesn’t really reflect it, but I think I played well.”
Swiatek, to be fair, called her full-on assault “20 years worth of work” wrapped up in one evening and Joint did not appear to have lost any sleep when she fronted up before the South Australia media ahead of playing at the Adelaide International.
Sunday, it transpired, was not only her first public speaking duty in South Australia but her first visit here too. But she acquitted herself well as befits a player who has had a storming 12 months on the WTA circuit, her title win in the Wimbledon warm-up tournament in Eastbourne last June a quite stunning achievement.
There is, it transpires, a simple explanation why we have heard so little about her: Maya Joint is a relatively new Australian.
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Her backstory is straightforward but unusual.
Born in Detroit, she decided upon Australian citizenship just over two years ago when she moved to Brisbane to train at Tennis Australia’s National Academy.
Mum Katia is German but dad Mick is a former champion squash player from Brisbane It was a massive thing to commit to a new life she said but appears unfazed and proud to represent her new abode despite just one visit down under when she was “tiny”.
“I grew up in America, so for the first 16 years I considered myself American. When I moved to Australia everyone really embraced me, all the Aussie girls, all the Aussie fans, they really made me feel at home,” she said, “So now that I’ve permanently moved to Melbourne I definitely feel Australian.”
Her parents, uncle, cousin and some family friends will be on hand to support her at the Australian Open she said although the vibe is that she can take care of herself.
It was noticeable how slight she is when she turned up at her media conference and it is not inaccurate to say that while she turns 20 in April, she looks much younger. Sitting behind a high desk facing her Adelaide press interrogators, she leant forward into the microphone, a keenness of stance that only magnified the youthful impression.
But if she was on edge, she didn’t show it.
First up, how do we pronounce your name?
“My dad says Maya (as in the department store) but my mom says Maya (May-a), so either works,” she told us cheerily.
Confidence too, is patently not an issue.
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“It’s big goal of mine to go deep in these tournaments, bigger events. I hope to win a 500 this year eventually. It’s (this) top level that I want to be competitive in.”
She will need to be at her best this afternoon when she faces the 2020 AO champion, Sofia Kenin. Remarkably, Joint already leads 2-0 in their head to head clashes, and for the loss of just four games each time.
She enjoyed watching the great Romanian champion Simona Halep play when growing up said Joint, a ferocity of style she has mirrored in her brief professional career already.
Joint is world ranked 32 and will likely be the lowest ranked seed in the women’s draw in Melbourne next week. Alex de Minaur, in the mens draw, is the only other Australian seed.
To give further perspective, the Russian sensation Mirra Andreeva, playing later tonight in Adelaide, is one of only a handful of teenager in the women’s top 100.
Joint bears an enormous heritage to live up to by declaring for Australia – Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong and Ash Barty are weighty predecessors indeed – but other people’s expectations count for little she said. It’s all about what she can do.
Quite simply, she seems as chilled as they come and can cope with the oddest of things coming her way.
Ahead of her sit-down chat with me post press conference, she was asked by a social media team to sit in a chair and answer random, quick-fire questions on any topic as someone threw a series of cuddly toys at her in rapid succession.
She hardly missed an answer or a catch.
Iga Swiatek is history already and, in the opposite manner, Sofia Kenin may soon be too.
The Adelaide International, a combined WTA 500 and ATP 250 tournament, will see some of the world’s best tennis players competing for a total prize pool of $2.5 million and world ranking points.
Duckworth, Rinky Hijikata and Alexander Vukic are the three other Australians playing today on centre court at the ATP250 and WTA 500 Adelaide international.
Yesterday, Evans wrote about Adelaide’s own tennis ace Thanasi Kokkinakis, you can read his story here.
Richard Llewelyn Evans is an Adelaide-based sports writer who has covered global tennis for the past three decades. His people -focused stories can be found at A Sporting Soul | Richard Llewelyn Evans.
