Maya Joint into Eastbourne Open final with win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova as Wimbledon prospects grow
Australian teenager Maya Joint has reached another WTA final at the age of just 19, giving herself the perfect pre-Wimbledon boost by powering into the championship match in the traditional Eastbourne Open curtain-raiser.
The US-born Queenslander, competing in just her second senior grass-court event, took another illustrious scalp following her wins over Ons Jabeur and Emma Raducanu as she defeated Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-4 in the semifinal.
Joint now has the chance to go into next week's main draw at Wimbledon, where she will face another Russian, 19th seed Liudmila Samsonova, with a maiden grass-court title under her belt.
The teenager, who was 5-3 down in the first set before taking control against the 33-year-old with her crisp hitting and sharp movement, was left astonished by her achievement.
"Super exciting. I think if you told me at the beginning of the week that I'd be in the final, I wouldn't believe you," said Joint.
"I've definitely learned to love grass this week."
In Saturday's final, she will face another of the game's rising stars, 20-year-old Alexandra Eala, who became the first player from the Philippines to reach a WTA Tour final as she beat fellow qualifier Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 in the other semi.
It will be the youngest final at the event since two American teens, Tracy Austin and Andrea Jaeger, did battle in the 1981 showdown at Devonshire Park.
For Joint, there are echoes of her run to her first WTA title on the clay at the Morocco Open in May when her victory came just a couple of days before she was due to play in her first French Open outing.
If she wins the title in Eastbourne on Saturday, becoming the first ever Australian women's winner in the event's 50-year history, she will then dash straight to London to prepare for her maiden Wimbledon, where she will be ranked for the first time in the world's top 50.
Up to number 41 if she wins her second title in five weeks, Joint's rise has been quite astonishing since starting the year at number 116.
In just 18 months since deciding to base herself back in Queensland after leaving the US and choosing to work with her Australian coach, Chris Mahony, she has shot up from number 1,384.
AAP
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