‘Should I being doing this?’: Aussie ace out to end woe
Ian Chadband |
Maya Joint, Australia’s No.1, has opened up on her calamitous year, admitting there have been moments during her alarming slump in form when she’s asked herself if she should be playing at all.
But the 20-year-old Queensland-based youngster, given a boost by the encouragement of her BJK Cup captain Sam Stosur, is determined to kick start her revival this week in the Netherlands, promising “I’ll be back.”
Joint goes into the ‘s’Hertogenbosch grass-court tournament on a nightmarish run, her first-round thrashing by Anastasia Potapova in the French Open being her 10th successive defeat in an injury-affected losing streak that drags back to January.
It’s all a far cry from last year when, as a teenager, she was arguably the breakout player on the women’s tour, winning two tournaments and shooting up the rankings from 118 at the start of 2025 to No.28 by this February.
But it’s all gone horribly wrong for the US-born star since then, with a complicated on-off back injury compounding her woes, and she was refreshingly open as she reflected at Roland Garros on her struggles.
“There’s definitely moments where I’ve thought, like, ‘oh, should I be doing this any more?’,” admitted Joint. “I mean, it’s been a rough half of the year.
“But everyone thinks that at some point, especially after losing quite a few matches in a row. But I’ve talked with my team about it, and I love the sport — and I want to keep playing for as long as I can.”
The low point, she explained, had come at a minor W125 tournament in Paris three weeks ago as she succumbed against French player Chloe Paquet 5-7 6-0 6-3, making her feel like packing it in.
“But that was a momentary lack of judgment. The next day I was back out on the practice court, still loving it. It was a little dip.”
Like the creation of that ‘difficult’ second album, though, Joint has definitely found her second full year on the circuit a real chore.
“That first year, I was kind of new on tour, people didn’t really know how I played, I was the underdog, and just kind of went out and swung.
“This year, I definitely felt a bit more pressure, especially at the Australian Open (where she was eliminated in the first round by Tereza Valentova), wanting to do well at my home tournament.
“But I’ve reached the point now where I’m just back at being the underdog, kind of, and just going out and swinging and seeing what happens.”
Amid this four-and-a-half month losing streak, those closest to her, like dad Michael Joint, the former squash pro, have encouraged her, saying all will be well.
And former US Open champ Stosur has been a rock. “She reached out and was actually a very big help, saying she’d been in my shoes, going through slumps in her career.
“Her advice really helped. She told me to try and find the joy again, get back to things I enjoy doing out in the court, ‘don’t stress too much over what happens’, just let go a little bit, and don’t think about anything, except just enjoying yourself.”
And Joint has – but what she needs now is some wins. Back on the grass, the surface on which she won her second tournament last year at Eastbourne, she says she’s fit again and “not far away” from that elusive breakthrough.
“It’s been tough going for sure, but surely I’ll gonna win at some point,” she says.
“My game’s there, it didn’t go away. It’s definitely there. I definitely still have it.
“All this has to happen for a reason, so I’ll come out of it stronger – and if not, then I don’t know. We’ll be back here talking about it!”
She summons up a smile, reminded of her self-promoted nickname – the Ginger Ninja. “Try to be,” she smiles, adding with a laugh: “I’ll be back.”
AAP