Joint’s grit earns high praise after BJK Cup success
Ethan James |
The fighting qualities of teenage gun Maya Joint have earned high praise from a tennis stalwart after the 19-year-old’s comeback win got Australia to the next stage of the Billie Jean King Cup.
Joint, the country’s highest-ranked woman at No.32, dropped the opening set against Brazil’s No.193 Laura Pigossi in Hobart on Sunday before rallying for a 2-6 7-5 6-1 victory.
She saved a match point when down 5-4 in the second set and had to deal with rain that forced play to stop for two-and-a-half hours.
The result clinched the play-off rubber after Kimberly Birrell survived a scare to beat 15-year-old Nauhany Vitoria Leme Da Silva 6-4 3-6 6-1 in the opening singles match.
Australia topped Group E after also beating Portugal on Friday and will progress to the April qualifying stage with spots in the September finals up for grabs.
Joint, who soared up the rankings in 2025 with two WTA titles, is eyeing an all-important seeding at the Australian Open in January.
“(It was) such a classy fighting effort, and gritty. We spoke about it, we just have to compete. That’s exactly what Maya did,” Australia’s stand-in skipper Nicole Pratt said.
“(She) didn’t play her best tennis in the first set but it is all part of experience and learning.
“The more she is in these situations, the better and better she is going to be. It’s all new territory.”
Joint won three games straight to win the second set and further found her radar to pull away to a 5-0 lead in the third.
She’ll team up with Australia’s top-ranked man Alex de Minaur at the United Cup in January in the lead-up to the first grand slam of the year.
Pratt said Joint was “like a sponge” and believed an even bigger season could be on the cards.
“She takes on information and filters the stuff that isn’t so good,” Pratt said.
“(She’s) got a great team … 2026 might be even better than 2025.”
Earlier, world No.95 Birrell was down 3-1 against Leme Da Silva before reeling off five of the next six games to take the first set.
The pair exchanged breaks early in the second, with world No.672 Leme Da Silva coming to life with some scintillating returns to get to 5-3 before closing the set out.
Birrell got back in the groove to run away with the deciding set.
Leme Da Silva claimed her maiden top-level tour match win in September, becoming the first WTA player born in the 2010s to do so.
“I knew it was going to be a battle and I was going to have to keep my nerve,” Birrell said.
“She’s a great player. I’m sure she’s going to have a big future.
“She played quite fearless on some big points, particularly toward the end of the second set.”
Australia were runners-up in 2019 and 2022 in the Billie Jean King Cup and haven’t won the team event since 1974 when it was known as the Fed Cup.
AAP
