Rising Aussie teenager Maya Joint has secured a shock semi-final berth at the Hobart International, after destroying 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in straight sets.
Joint needed just 62 minutes to defeat Kenin 6-3 6-1 in Thursday’s quarter-final showdown on centre court.
The 18-year-old Australian wildcard, who has never made it this far at a WTA 250 event, will take on either second seed Elise Mertens or Veronika Kudermetova in the semi-finals.
“It’s crazy. I feel really good right now,” Joint said.
“I’m just so excited to be in the semis. I can’t wait to play again.
“I played really well today. I think we had a good match. She definitely tested how low I could get. She hit the ball very flat.”
At world No.118, Joint is the sport’s second-highest-ranked female teenager, behind only 17-year-old Russian world No.15 Mirra Andreeva.
Joint has dropped only 11 games across three matches at the Hobart International, beating world No.53 Olga Danilovic, world No.38 Magda Linette and former world No.4 Kenin along the way.
Her win against Kenin was the finest of the lot, with Joint striking 18 winners to 13 and converting five of her seven break-point chances.
Kenin committed a whopping 29 unforced errors in the windy conditions, almost double that of Joint (15).
Joint set the tone from the outset, snaring two early breaks to race out to a 5-1 lead in the space of 20 minutes.
A combination of some stunning winners from Joint and some poor unforced errors from Kenin led to the lopsided scoreline.
Kenin fought back with a break and a hold of her own, but Joint held her nerve to take the first set in 33 minutes.
After committing 14 unforced errors in the first set, Kenin’s error-riddled display continued in the second.
Joint snared the early break, then saved a break point herself before breaking Kenin again to surge to a 5-1 lead.
Kenin’s spirit was broken by that stage, with Joint earning another break to wrap up the one-sided victory.
Maya Joint (Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, third seed Amanda Anisimova pulled out of her quarter-final due to illness, gifting Elina Avaneysan a free passage through to the final four.
She will take on world No.67 McCartney Kessler, who upset No.1 seed Dayana Yastremska 7-5 6-4 to book her own semi-final berth.
Former teen star Aiava earns Open main-draw start
An emotional Destanee Aiava has won through to her first Australian Open in four years as she looks to finally deliver on her huge teen promise.
Aiava appeared destined for the big time when she was the world’s top-ranked 14-year-old, but she has faced a challenging decade since then and battled mental health issues.
Now 24, Aiava won a berth in the Open main draw with a gutsy victory in the final round of qualifying on Thursday against German Eva Lys, winning 6-1 2-6 6-4.
Locked at 4-4 in the third set, the Victorian maintained her fearless approach with some booming groundstrokes to break the 23rd seed, then served out the match.
Fellow Australian Maddison Inglis suffered heartbreak for the second straight year with another loss in the final round of qualifying, falling to Argentina’s Julia Riera 6-4 1-6 2-6.
After the victory, a teary Aiava embraced her mother Rosie, who played rugby for the Wallaroos.
“I’m speechless,” she said in her on-court interview.
“I haven’t played in the main draw of an Australian Open for so long, and to qualify is even sweeter.
“I just means so much – Mum sacrificed so much, and I was with her every day in the pre-season working my arse off.”
Currently ranked No.165 in the world, Aiava has played in the Open four times since 2017, but never advanced past the first round.
She also won through qualifying at last year’s US Open, but lost in the first round to fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina, of Kazakhstan.
American Paul on a powerful quest to hit tennis top 10
American Tommy Paul says he’s in the sharpening phase of a plot to bludgeon his way into the top 10 of tennis.
Paul ended the Adelaide International dream for Australia’s Rinky Hijikata on Thursday with a clinical 6-3 6-4 victory at Memorial Drive.
And the tournament’s top seed did so while testing out tactics he hopes will lift his world ranking from No.12.
“We wanted to sharpen the things that I’ve done well in the past and then also trying to add some ball speed on my shots,” Paul said.
“You look at the top guys and they’re paying the ball out harder than me, to be quite blunt.
“I’m trying to pick up the ball speed.
“Today I did a decent job of it, and it’s about picking the times of when you want to do it … I missed a few more backhanders than I would have liked, but it was because I was trying to lean into (them) a little more, hit them a little harder.”
The 27-year-old from Voorhees in New Jersey advanced to a semi-final against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, who defeated American Marcos Giron 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.
Paul hopes his focus of adding power will pay off at the Australian Open and edge him into the world’s top 10.
“Whenever you come here, you’re coming off of a long training block – there’s pros and cons to it,” he said.
“I’m not exactly match-trained – more like physically in great shape, but match conditioning is different.
“And getting your mind ready for matches like this and matches like the Australian Open is important.
“That’s what this week is all about. Obviously, everyone wants to do really well here, but the main goal when coming to Australia is to do well in the Aussie Open.”
Adelaide’s home-town favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis meets second-seed Sebastian Korda on Thursday night, and Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic plays Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi to determine the semi-finalists.
© AAP