
Aussie starlet makes swift exit from US Open warm-up
Australia's teenage starlet lost 6-3 6-3 in one hour 20 minutes on a baking 30C degree day in Washington.
Joint will be going to Flushing Meadows amid raised expectations after an impressive first half of the season - and the knowledge that last year she came through qualifying and reached the second round in New York.
Defeat robbed her of useful match practice on the hardcourts but having been born in Michigan and lived there until she was 16 the 19-year-old is well versed on the surface in north America.
It is a measure of her progress that this time last year Joint was playing WTA 125s and ITF events in Europe.
She then played a couple of ITFs in America before entering US Open qualifying.
This year she will gain direct entry to the main draw at at Flushing Meadow having risen 97 places in a year to 38th in the world.
Fernandez is ranked two places higher, but the gap looked bigger as she dominated their first meeting on a very sparsely attended Stadium court.
Perhaps deflated by the lack of atmosphere Joint rarely troubled her 22-year-old opponent, forcing one break point, which she failed to take.
Fernandez, who reached the US Open final in 2021 but has only won one main draw match in New York since, was ahead on most metrics, notably serving in which she hit five aces to Joint's none, while the Australian double-faulted five times and the Canadian twice.
Joint is the only Australian in the WTA 500 event, which has Americans Jessica Pegula, who Fernandez will now play, and Emma Navarro as top seeds.
The main attractions, though, are the returning Venus Williams and two-time US Open champ Naomi Osaka, both of whom start their campaign on Tuesday.
Williams has added her name to the US Open mixed doubles list, paired with Reilly Opelka, with Wimbledon runner-up Amanda Anisimova also putting her name forward partnering Holger Rune.
As they suggested at Wimbledon, Alex de Minaur and his fiancee Katie Boulter have also entered the new-style format.
There are now 25 duos on the entry list with the deadline a week away. The top eight pairs with the highest combined singles rankings will gain entry along with eight wild-card partnerships. The latter could include Naomi Osaka and Nick Kyrgios who have applied.
Meanwhile, in Europe, Astra Sharma lost in the first round of the WTA 250 in Prague, beaten 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 by American ninth seed Ann Li.
Other seeds Rebecca Sramkova (2), Marie Bouzkova (5) and Alycia Parks (8) also went through.

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7NEWS
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West Australian
44 minutes ago
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Melbourne star Steven May banned for three games for high hit on Carlton's Francis Evans
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Perth Now
44 minutes ago
- Perth Now
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The AFL tribunal has taken an eternity to make decision on Melbourne star Steven May, who was cited for a controversial collision that concussed Carlton's Francis Evans on Saturday night. May faced the tribunal via a video hook-up on Wednesday night, with the tribunal eventually deciding — after deliberating for more than hour — the All-Australian defender was banned for three games. May was cited for rough conduct in an incident that divided the AFL world. It was reported that insiders at the AFL believed the case to be the most challenging they had seen in years. Experts were also divided, with some believing that May had to make a contest of the situation, while others have suggested he needed to slow down or deviate when he realised he was on a collision course with Evans. Star Channel 7 commentators Daisy Thomas and Kane Cornes both believe May had little choice but to contest the ball and make contact. Steven May collects Francis Evans with a high shot. Credit: Fox Footy Evans was a bloodied mess after the collision. Credit: Getty Images Thomas said ahead of the tribunal: 'My mind would be blown if he does not get off. This is a footballing act to its core.' But North Melbourne great David King said May needed to be punished because Evans was hit 'with the absolute point of the shoulder' and May hit him 'flush' The AFL's match review officer Michael Christian graded May's contact as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact. But May told the tribunal on Wednesday that he could not believe he didn't take possession of the ball. 'I thought I did everything right, so I'm just a bit shocked,' he said. May and Evans clashed at speed, but Evans arrived a fraction of a second earlier than his opponent, getting his hands to the ball before May caught him high. Melbourne lawyer Adrian Anderson said there were nine reasons why the incident wasn't rough conduct, which included both players were travelling at pace, May was 'contesting the ball', the ball's bounce was 'unexpected', May didn't move off line, he didn't jump off ground, and May was significantly taller than Evans. Before the final decision was handed down, the tribunal deliberated for over an hour leading one tribunal reporter to wonder if the panel had gone into ghost mode. 'Has the Tribunal f***n ghosted me?' Fox Footy reporter David Zita wondered on social media, while a fan said: 'Ghosted all of us ...' Zita continued as he waited for the verdict: 'I'm sorry, but what the actual f***.' Eventually, the tribunal panel released its findings, deciding May was banned for three games. After the incident, Blues coach Michael Voss believed May's act was fair. 'Both players were in line with the ball and seemed to be attacking it,' he said post-match. 'Both sort of making a play at the ball, maybe one person was one step late, and obviously then the incident happens. 'But for Frankie (Evans) to be able to hold his line with a pretty strong man coming the other way was a pretty important moment in the game.' Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said May's intent was 'clearly' to win the ball. 'If you just look at his pure intent, it was purely for the ball and it was unfortunate,' he said. Goodwin said the AFL was doing an 'unbelievable' job in trying to eradicate concussion from the game. 'It's important that we limit it as much as we can but there will be football incidents where someone is concussed,' he said. May was concussed himself in a separate incident and was already ruled out of the Round 20 game.