Grim Aussie start but Joint venture lifts Paris gloom
Australia's newest tennis champ Maya Joint has breezed into Paris with a giggle, a slight air of disbelief but the unshakeable confidence of a fearless teen who quite fancies the idea of shocking everyone again with her first deep run at a grand slam.
And the sight of the freshly minted 19-year-old Morocco Open champ excitedly taking a first hit on the Roland Garros clay on Sunday after a "crazy" couple of days when she won her first two WTA titles, in singles and doubles, felt just the pick-me-up the Aussies needed after a gloomy opening day wipe-out at the French Open.
Wildcards Destanee Aiava, and Tristan Schoolkate both succumbed in straight sets on Sunday to hardened claycourt denizens while Rinky Hijikata's attempt at playing David to the giant American Reilly Opelka's Goliath didn't play to script either.
But the good news? There'll be one Australian winner at least on Monday with Joint facing Ajla Tomljanovic, the battle-hardened former No.1 who the youngster has long looked up to.
Yet though Joint cut a shy figure, sounding still a little amazed at what she's just achieved, it didn't stop her musing confidently here on Sunday: "I've definitely gained a lot of confidence from Rabat. Yeah, I think I can do well this week."
There's been nothing bashful about her performances on court. Inscrutable behind her tinted shades, she displays the crisp hitting and clear thinking of a ruthless tennis veteran. She looks and sounds like a teen, just doesn't play like one.
"It's really exciting. I was here once before for a junior doubles match but I never played in junior singles, I lost in quallies," she beamed after jetting in on Sunday.
"I was thinking about Paris all last week, even when I was winning in Rabat.'
Playing her mate's not ideal, though. "We've trained together quite a bit, travelled together and we're good friends, so it'll definitely be a difficult match, but a good match," she said of the clash with Tomljanovic, 13 years her senior.
There are comparisons between the pair's introduction to Australian tennis. Tomljanovic switched her allegiance from Croatia to take advantage of the support of Tennis Australia over a decade ago and so has the US born-and-raised Joint, who's flourished since moving to Queensland.
"Ajla's definitely given me a lot of advice and guidance," said Joint. "She's been really helpful to me, and I'm really lucky to have her as a friend. So, it's definitely gonna be difficult, but I'm excited. She's someone I've looked up to."
On Thursday, Tomljanovic was a set down in Rabat when she withdrew to protect an abdominal complaint, but Joint's the favourite, really at home on the clay.
Indeed, could she be that rarest of things - an Australian natural clay-courter? "Maybe," laughed the daughter of an Aussie dad and German mum.
"I really enjoy clay. My grandparents live in Germany, so I went over there a lot in the summers and trained on the surface, so I'm pretty comfortable on it."
More comfortable than the two Aussie wildcards on their French Open debuts, with Aiava succumbing 7-5 6-1 to Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska and Schoolkate losing 6-4 6-2 6-2 to Hungarian Marton Fucsovics.
But Hijikata, who feels he's improved a lot on the surface, was left frustrated at going down to the tour's biggest man, the 2.11m, 102kg Opelka, 1-6 6-3 7-5 7-6 (7-3).
AUSTRALIANS IN ACTION ON DAY TWO OF THE FRENCH OPEN (Prefix denotes seeding)
WOMEN
(17) Daria Kasatkina v Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
Kim Birrell v Jaqueline Cristian (ROM)
Ajla Tomljanovic v Maya Joint
Daria Saville v (7) Madison Keys (USA)
MEN
(25) Alexei Popyrin v Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN)
Jordan Thompson v Jiri Lehecka (CZE)
Aleksandar Vukic v (24) Karen Khachanov (RUS)
Christopher O'Connell v (22) Ugo Humbert (FRA)
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