Young Australian makes history with Wimbledon warm-up title win
Maya Joint has rubber-stamped her status as Australia's next big tennis star with a historic second WTA title in barely a month ahead of her Wimbledon debut.
The talented 19-year-old staved off four championship points in a captivating and high-quality final-set tie-breaker – including rallying from two mini-breaks down at 2-5 – to outlast left-handed Filipino Alexandra Eala in the Eastbourne final.
One last backhand winner sealed a roller-coaster 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (12-10) victory for Joint, who fell to the Eastbourne grass in triumph as she became the first Australian champion in the British event's 50-year history.
Eala, 20, was inconsolable at the other end after losing the youngest Eastbourne final by combined age since 1981.
'I'm very happy right now, and feeling very relieved as well,' Joint said.
'It was a very difficult match. I'm proud of myself for coming back and staying in the match ... I'm glad I was able to find a way back into the match.
'It's a really great preparation. I got a lot of matches leading into Wimbledon, so hopefully I can be in Wimbledon a little bit longer than I was in French, but I'm just really excited to get to London today and step foot in 'Wimby' for the first time.'
Joint, who will rise to a career-high No.41 on Monday after starting last year barely inside the top 700, lost in the first round at Roland-Garros a day after capturing the Morocco Open title in Rabat.
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Perth Now
32 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Sky's the limit: Joint inspires Aussie Wimbledon launch
Ajla Tomljanovic has declared the sky's the limit for Australia's new tennis shooting star Maya Joint. The 19-year-old US-born prodigy Joint, popular among her new-found Australian mates, gave them all a boost on the weekend before Wimbledon by winning her first grass-court title at the prestigious curtain-raiser at Eastbourne. The vastly experienced Tomljanovic, twice a Wimbledon quarter-finalist, and Talia Gibson, who has a high-profile shot at four-time grand slam champ Naomi Osaka, lead the opening-day Aussie challenge on a baking hot Monday at the All England Club. Joint won't make her Wimbledon bow until Tuesday against 19th seed Liudmila Samsonova, and Tomljanovic thinks the break will be key for her. After her first title win in Morocco on clay five weeks ago, Joint then had to jet straight from Rabat to Paris for the French Open and didn't look anywhere near her best as Tomljanovic defeated her. "I think it'll help her this time, because she'll have learned a bit from that quick turnaround in Paris. And you'd take a final or a title before a slam any day of the week, even if it's a quick turnaround," Tomljanovic said. "I think the sky's the limit for her. Tennis is in a place where you can't really put numbers on people, especially how well she's been doing at such a young age. "She seems not to be fazed by anything, she's such a cool person. She's different, which I like. When you spend time with her, she's quiet, then she'll come out with, like, a really funny joke out of nowhere. "On court she's quick, and there's not really many holes in her game." Tomljanovic faces former French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who Joint defeated on the way to her Eastbourne crown, and reckoned she'd be picking the youngster's brains about how to play her on grass. Meanwhile, 21-year-old Gibson still can't quite believe she'll be making her own Wimbledon debut after saving a match point in her final round of qualifying as she gets ready to face Osaka, who's returning after a maternity break. It's potentially a golden opportunity for the Perth player because 27-year-old Osaka has had inconsistent results since coming back following the birth of her daughter Shai in July 2023. "It was very exciting to see that I'm coming up against her,'' Gibson said. "It would be very easy to get a bit nervous and get too caught up in the name of who's down the other end, but I think it's going to be an amazing experience. "It's been really great to watch Naomi play when I was growing up. She's definitely an inspiration." Leading the men's charge will be 20th seed Alexei Popyrin, looking forward to his first "tennis Ashes'' battle at Wimbledon against British wildcard Arthur Fery. "He's a good player, like all the Brits, they grow up on grass, know how to play on the surface, and I've heard his dad may be a member of this club, so he knows the place inside out," Popyrin said. "He'll have the home crowd on his side, so that will also be a little bit of a challenge, but I'm feeling good and I'm ready to go." AUSTRALIANS IN ACTION ON DAY ONE OF WIMBLEDON (Prefix number denotes seeding) (WC = wildcard) (Q = qualifier) MEN (20) Alexei Popyrin v (WC) Arthur Fery (GBR) Jordan Thompson v Vit Kopriva (CZE) Chris O'Connell v (Q) Adrian Mannarino (FRA) James Duckworth v (25) Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) WOMEN Olivia Gadecki v Greet Minnen (BEL) Kim Birrell v (22) Donna Vekic (CRO) Ajla Tomljanovic v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) Talia Gibson (Q) v Naomi Osaka (JPN)
Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Lions roar and crack half-century in tour opener
Go to latest Lions overpower Force 54–7 to launch Australian tour in style By Jonathan Drennan The British and Irish Lions have made the perfect start to their Australian tour, brushing off jet lag and last Saturday's surprise loss to Argentina to beat the Force 54–7 in Perth. During the first half, rugby fans in Perth were briefly allowed to dream the impossible: a win against the Lions was possible. The Force played fearless running rugby that stunned some of the best players in the world, with wingers Mac Grealy and Dylan Pietsch starring under the lights at Optus Stadium. Prop Tom Robertson also shut down Ireland's famed tighthead Tadhg Furlong in the scrum. After the game, Force coach Simon Cron revealed that tighthead prop Oli Hoskins had broken his little toe on his second day of training, but had insisted on playing through the pain in his final game of professional rugby in front of his home crowd. Before kickoff, betting shops were willing to pay $17 on a Force win and by the final siren, it was clear why the bookmaker very rarely loses. Eight tries for the Lions to the Force's one was as conclusive as it gets. After a stuttering opening forty minutes where the Lions scrambled into the changing rooms grateful to be 21-7 in front, they then showed their vast potential and made their mark in Australia. In the second half, the offloading game that the Lions had frequently failed to execute in their shock defeat against the Pumas in Dublin found its perfect rhythm. The chief tormentor of the Force's exhausted defence was Canberra-raised Mack Hansen, helping the Lions to score five unanswered tries. Hansen has a tattoo of his Lions coach Andy Farrell on his leg as part of a bet for winning the Six Nations two years ago, and the former Great Britain rugby league legend singled out his winger for special praise, despite his international teammate Joe McCarthy being awarded player of the match. 'The player of the game by a country mile was Mack Hansen,' Farrell said. 'Back and forward, full length of the field, fighting for his team on his own. That's what a Lion should 100% do for his teammates.' The Lions scored the first try of the game within just 90 seconds, a perfectly timed cross field kick found the skipper Dan Sheehan, who played a perfect pass to his Ireland winger James Lowe, who immediately threw an offload for the hooker to finish. Three minutes later, through brute force, the Force climbed off the canvas and captain Nic White burrowed over, 12 years after cruelly missing the Lions tour through a shoulder injury. The Force had shocked the Lions with relentless physicality and expansive play, with Pietsch desperate to impress and succeeding through the game, giving Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt plenty to think about ahead of the Test series. The Force turned down two early penalty kicks in front of the posts, deciding to go to the corner both times; ultimately, their lack of pragmatism against some of the world's best players was brutally punished. Henry Pollock had played just 31 minutes of Test rugby for England and announced himself onto the Lions tour with a brilliant break, waiting before eventually getting hauled down by rookie five-eighth Alex Harford and popping up a pass to create a simple run in for Welsh halfback Tomos Williams. After so much good work, the Force came brutally unstuck after expecting Finn Russell to kick for the corner, shuffling back with their backs turned, instead the Scottish playmaker spotted the wide open gap, tapped and sprinted half the field, before popping it up to his full back Elliot Daly to dive over for the third try of the night three minutes before half-time. Although the Lions had been starved of the possession they may have expected to enjoy before the game, when they were eventually found opportunities, they were ruthless. The Force's brave early resistance started to falter dramatically as the Lions turned up their physicality through Irish second-rower McCarthy. Six minutes into the second half Sam Carter dropped the ball deep in the Lions' half, the men in red surged 80 metres starting with Mack Hansen before a swift pass to his Irish teammate James Lowe who eventually carved through the Force defence to beautifully offload the ball to his halfback Williams who got his second of the night. Williams' two tries were countered by a nasty hamstring strain that was getting iced in the changing rooms after the game, and could lead the Lions to call on Scotland's Ben White. Five minutes later, Hansen again caused havoc, finding space and sending through another Irishman Garry Ringrose, for a try. McCarthy added another after Pollock's smart chip and chase punished the exhausted Force defence. Daly's second try of the night with nine minutes left was completely unopposed; the English fullback almost jogged sheepishly to dot the ball down under the posts. Replacement halfback Alex Mitchell scored on the siren to end the game at 52-7 and make the Force's blistering start a distant memory. Twelve years ago, Lions cruised to a 52-point victory over the Force at the old Subiaco Oval. In the new, gleaming surrounds of Optus Stadium on Saturday evening, the scoreboard read marginally better, but it highlighted the scale of the task the Wallabies will face against this Lions team. The Lions will now travel to Brisbane, where they have a short turnaround and will face the Queensland Reds on Wednesday at an almost sold-out Suncorp Stadium. 'They're (the Reds) a good side, I think we can all see that, they play the game in all sorts of ways,' Farrell said. 'It's not just one way, but they're very good up front, good at playing the tight game in all sorts of different conditions, but they can play expansive rugby as well. That'll be a real tough test for us on Wednesday, but it's something that we expect from the quality side.' yesterday 10.31pm Last thoughts, some key stats and a sign off .... As the Force and Lions players swap jerseys on Optus Stadium - and an impressive crowd of 46,000 goes home - Force coach Simon Cron has revealed prop Ollie Hoskins played the game with a painful injury after breaking his toe at his first training session last week. Hoskins only came out of a recent retirement last week to make up numbers for the Force. That's a brave effort. The major takeaway for the Force tonight? Pietsch was excellent and we probably expected that. But there is always one unheralded player to stand up against the Lions and tonight that was Mac Grealy. Do yourself a favour: keep an eye on that name. Grealy's was the sort of performance that could see the former Queensland Red win a Wallabies squad call-up in coming weeks and months. Okay, so I am gonna sign off with the live coverage, and let's do that with a look at the final stats. The one that jumps on this list is 23 offloads for the Lions. Their transition attack was exceptional. Good evening, thanks for being with us. Keep an eye out for JD's follow-up reporting from Perth, and I will be heading up to Brisbane for the Reds-Lions clash on Wednesday night. Can't wait. yesterday 10.07pm Pollock: 'I love big occasions' Young Henry Pollock has been grabbed by the Stan crew, and you get the sense that won't be the last time. The flashy no.8 from Northhampton had a superb night out, setting up a try and being a constant presence as a ball runner. He also got in a cheeky stink with Nick Champion de Crespigny. We'll be seeing a lot more of him. 'We just enjoyed it. We had a bad result against Argentina but we spoke about bouncing back and doing what we do best and hopefully we showed that,' Pollock said. 'It's been a whirlwind so far. I am just trying to take it in my stride. I love big occasions and I love pressure. I am just pumped to be here. It was a fun game and we just enjoyed it.'
The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
The 5000-day curse broken by netball's Thunderbirds
The Adelaide Thunderbirds have bounced back into the Super Netball top four, kept their three-peat dream alive and ended one of the longest droughts in Australian sport with a gritty 56-53 victory over the Melbourne Vixens. Remarkably given all their recent successes, it was the Thunderbirds' first away win over the Vixens since June 6, 2010 - 5511 days ago - snapping a 12-game losing streak against Melbourne in their own backyard at John Cain Arena on Sunday. Adelaide (6-6) set up their drought-breaking triumph with a barnstorming start and miserly finish after being challenged by the third-ranked Vixens (7-5) in the middle. Georgie Horjus was shifted from wing attack to goal attack midway through the second quarter and finished with seven goals without a miss - including two super shots - as well as nine assists to help end Melbourne's five-game winning stretch. "We probably didn't play our best netball but we grinded it out," Horjus said. "We knew we had to win, so now we're still in the hunt for finals, which is exciting for the next couple of weeks." "We've had some really close games but this gives us confidence we can do it ugly." With Romelda Aiken-George presenting a strong target and Tayla Williams impressing through the centre, Adelaide burst out to an 18-10 lead. Kiera Austin's quickfire two-pointer on the quarter-time siren dragged the margin back to 19-14 and gave the Vixens the momentum entering the second term. Melbourne's defensive trio Jo Weston, Kate Eddy and Rudi Ellis upped the physical pressure and the T'birds dropped off their hot early level as the Vixens trimmed the deficit to 30-29 at half-time. Adelaide superstar Latanya Wilson was creating havoc at goal defence but she lacked support as the home side continued to impose themselves. Sophie Garbin hit 11 without a miss, including the goal which gave Melbourne their first lead, 46-44 at the final change, which they held onto. The Vixens' frontcourt coughed up repeated turnovers in the fourth term while misfiring from long range. Horjus's two-pointer over Weston and Ellis gave Adelaide the lead for good as the visitors swamped Melbourne 12-7 i The Adelaide Thunderbirds have bounced back into the Super Netball top four, kept their three-peat dream alive and ended one of the longest droughts in Australian sport with a gritty 56-53 victory over the Melbourne Vixens. Remarkably given all their recent successes, it was the Thunderbirds' first away win over the Vixens since June 6, 2010 - 5511 days ago - snapping a 12-game losing streak against Melbourne in their own backyard at John Cain Arena on Sunday. Adelaide (6-6) set up their drought-breaking triumph with a barnstorming start and miserly finish after being challenged by the third-ranked Vixens (7-5) in the middle. Georgie Horjus was shifted from wing attack to goal attack midway through the second quarter and finished with seven goals without a miss - including two super shots - as well as nine assists to help end Melbourne's five-game winning stretch. "We probably didn't play our best netball but we grinded it out," Horjus said. "We knew we had to win, so now we're still in the hunt for finals, which is exciting for the next couple of weeks." "We've had some really close games but this gives us confidence we can do it ugly." With Romelda Aiken-George presenting a strong target and Tayla Williams impressing through the centre, Adelaide burst out to an 18-10 lead. Kiera Austin's quickfire two-pointer on the quarter-time siren dragged the margin back to 19-14 and gave the Vixens the momentum entering the second term. Melbourne's defensive trio Jo Weston, Kate Eddy and Rudi Ellis upped the physical pressure and the T'birds dropped off their hot early level as the Vixens trimmed the deficit to 30-29 at half-time. Adelaide superstar Latanya Wilson was creating havoc at goal defence but she lacked support as the home side continued to impose themselves. Sophie Garbin hit 11 without a miss, including the goal which gave Melbourne their first lead, 46-44 at the final change, which they held onto. The Vixens' frontcourt coughed up repeated turnovers in the fourth term while misfiring from long range. Horjus's two-pointer over Weston and Ellis gave Adelaide the lead for good as the visitors swamped Melbourne 12-7 i The Adelaide Thunderbirds have bounced back into the Super Netball top four, kept their three-peat dream alive and ended one of the longest droughts in Australian sport with a gritty 56-53 victory over the Melbourne Vixens. Remarkably given all their recent successes, it was the Thunderbirds' first away win over the Vixens since June 6, 2010 - 5511 days ago - snapping a 12-game losing streak against Melbourne in their own backyard at John Cain Arena on Sunday. Adelaide (6-6) set up their drought-breaking triumph with a barnstorming start and miserly finish after being challenged by the third-ranked Vixens (7-5) in the middle. Georgie Horjus was shifted from wing attack to goal attack midway through the second quarter and finished with seven goals without a miss - including two super shots - as well as nine assists to help end Melbourne's five-game winning stretch. "We probably didn't play our best netball but we grinded it out," Horjus said. "We knew we had to win, so now we're still in the hunt for finals, which is exciting for the next couple of weeks." "We've had some really close games but this gives us confidence we can do it ugly." With Romelda Aiken-George presenting a strong target and Tayla Williams impressing through the centre, Adelaide burst out to an 18-10 lead. Kiera Austin's quickfire two-pointer on the quarter-time siren dragged the margin back to 19-14 and gave the Vixens the momentum entering the second term. Melbourne's defensive trio Jo Weston, Kate Eddy and Rudi Ellis upped the physical pressure and the T'birds dropped off their hot early level as the Vixens trimmed the deficit to 30-29 at half-time. Adelaide superstar Latanya Wilson was creating havoc at goal defence but she lacked support as the home side continued to impose themselves. Sophie Garbin hit 11 without a miss, including the goal which gave Melbourne their first lead, 46-44 at the final change, which they held onto. The Vixens' frontcourt coughed up repeated turnovers in the fourth term while misfiring from long range. Horjus's two-pointer over Weston and Ellis gave Adelaide the lead for good as the visitors swamped Melbourne 12-7 i
