Aussie teen breaks Barty’s record in WTA breakthrough win
Australia’s teenage tennis star Maya Joint has eclipsed one of Ash Barty’s records as she achieved another significant landmark in her burgeoning career by earning her first WTA 1000 match triumph at the Madrid Open.
On her tour-level clay-court main draw debut in the Spanish capital, the 19-year-old Queenslander outlasted local wildcard Carlota Martinez Cirez 6-2 2-6 6-4 for a third win in three days.
Just five days after her 19th birthday, it meant Joint became the youngest Aussie ever to win a WTA match at ‘Masters’ level, surpassing Barty who won in the Miami Open in 2017 when she was 20 years and 330 days.
Already having earned notable wins over the experienced duo of Sara Errani and Jil Teichmann in qualifying, the US-born Joint, who’s made massive strides over the past two seasons since throwing in her lot with the nation of her Australian dad, came through a roller-coaster first-round affair on Wednesday.
It was the Brisbane-based youngster’s first match in a tour-level clay event, but she showed why her record in lesser clay-court tournaments has been so encouraging as she overcame a second-set lapse to dominate the impressive Spanish tour debutant Martinez Cirez.
Brilliant in the opening set, Joint, the second youngest teen in the world’s top 100 at No.78, lost her backhand solidity in the second stanza and had to regroup in the decider, eventually cracking Martinez Cirez’s serve for the fifth and most decisive time at 4-4.
Joint, who was ranked 269 in the world this time last year, went on to eke out her victory in two hours seven minutes, setting up the chance to make even more waves when she faces American world No.10 Emma Navarro in the second round.
Ajla Tomljanovic’s hopes of joining Joint in the last-64 ended in a disappointing 6-3 1-6 7-5 defeat to world No.153 Rebeka Masarova, who’s ranked 74 places below her Australian opponent.
With Kim Birrell having been beaten by American Peyton Stearns on Tuesday, it leaves just Joint and Daria Kasatkina, in her second competition as an Australian competitor, flying the flag in the women’s draw.
The 14th seed Kasatkina, who had a first-round bye, will open her account against American Alycia Parks, who booked her second-round spot with a 6-3 6-3 win over Andorran Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva.
Meanwhile, Sydney’s Chris O’Connell has earned himself an inviting shy at Taylor Fritz in the Madrid Open, hoping to conjure up a sensation in the ‘Magic Box’ with the American world no.4 a potentially vulnerable target after his 2025 injury woes.
The indefatigable O’Connell, one of the busiest Australians on tour in his 10th tournament of the year, earned a handy win in the first round of the ATP 1000 event at the Spanish capital’s famous Caja Magica venue on Wednesday, beating Argentinian world No.59 Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-3 6-4.
The 30-year-old O’Connell, ranked 87, converted all three of the break points he earned and saved seven of the eight he faced to join compatriots Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin, who both had byes, in the second round.
There he’ll face US Open and ATP finals runner-up Fritz, the third seed who’s competing in his first clay-court tournament of the season after a 2025 campaign dogged by an abdominal injury that’s prevented him playing anywhere near his best.
Fritz hammered O’Connell at Wimbledon last year but the 30-year-old Australian will hope to give the rusty US No.1 more of a run for his money on clay, having already recently reached one quarter-final on the surface in Bucharest.
“It has been really frustrating,” Fritz told the ATP before the tournament. “I think this year is the least amount of tennis I have ever played. I haven’t been playing in between tournaments because I have been trying to give it time to heal.”
Jannik Sinner may still be waiting patiently to return to action amid his doping violation ban but another Italian youngster filled the void on Wednesday when teenager Federico Cina beat Coleman Wong in straight sets.
The 18-year-old Cina, who made his ATP debut with a win over Francisco Comesana in Miami last month, this time won 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 with the help of 19 winners and will next play American Sebastian Korda.
© AAP