Australian tennis has been given a major boost on the eve of the French Open after Maya Joint was crowned a WTA tour title winner in Morocco at the age of just 19.
Joint collapsed to the clay in joy in Rabat on Saturdayafter outplaying Romanian Jaqueline Cristian 6-3, 6-2 in the Morocco Open final.
As she prepared to fly off to Paris on Sunday to try to create more waves in her maiden French Open appearance, Joint beamed: “I’m really excited that I was able to win a title here, and hopefully it’ll be the first of many.”
Joint’s startling progress has delighted her 15 Australian colleagues who are already in Paris, with Alex de Minaur telling AAP: “Maya’s playing with a lot of confidence, and it’s great to see.
“And as Aussies, there’s nothing we love more than other Aussies doing well, so that’s obviously very important, definitely brings up the morale and competitive juices of all the other teammates to keep on pushing for bigger and better things.”
It was a rip-roaring display from the US-born daughter of an Australian father and German mother who has rocketed through the rankings in just 18 months since basing herself in Queensland.
And it was the culmination of an extraordinary week in which she didn’t drop a single set throughout the singles competition while also taking her maiden doubles title with Georgian Oksana Kalashnikova.
“Must be something about Morocco,” she said on court after the tough, breezy conditions and heat made it a test for both finalists. “It’s been an amazing week. The conditions really tested both of us.”
Now it gets really interesting for the new champion as she faces a first-round encounter on Monday against fellow Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, who retired with an abdominal concern after losing the first set of their semi-final on Friday.
“Going to the French with this win under my belt gives me a lot of confidence,” she said. “My game’s improved so much over the past year and being able to play my first French Open is really exciting. I can’t wait to get there.”
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Of her rematch with Tomljanovic, 13 years her senior, she added: “It’ll be a good match. It’s always difficult to play another Aussie and and a friend, but we’re both professionals, we’ll be able to figure it out.”
The win will rocket Joint up to 53rd in the WTA rankings – now firmly ensconced as Australia’s No 2 behind Daria Kasatkina – which represents an astounding leap from where she started last year, at No 684.
“It’s really weird to think back to a year ago, to where I was and where I am now. But I’ve done a lot of hard work to get here and I’ve just got to keep going,” she said.
The Australian challenge will get under way on the opening day at Roland Garros on Sunday with wildcards Destanee Aiava and Tristan Schoolkate getting their first shot at Paris main draw action, while Rinky Hijikata will be out to reach the second round for the first time.