Latest news with #KimBirrell
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Swift exit for two Australians as Wimbledon challenge falters at the first
Under blue skies more redolent of her Gold Coast home than London, Kim Birrell has achieved the unenviable distinction of being the first player knocked out in a completed match at this year's Wimbledon championships. And on a dismal opening morning for the 17-strong Australian challenge, Chris O'Connell quickly followed her out the exit door as one of the first men's victims at sunny SW19 with a straight-sets loss on Monday. The 27-year-old Birrell, making her debut at the grass court slam, never recovered from a nervy start in which she surrendered the first set to No 22 seed and last year's semi-finalist Donna Vekic without winning a game. Any thoughts Birrell might benefit from a London heatwave that had spectators seeking any shade they could find had already evaporated. But a much-improved battling second set prompted hope, at 4-4, of the Victorian forcing a decider, but the Croatian star then took the last two games to complete a 6-0 6-4 victory in 79 minutes. Birrell, who saved one match point but then watched her forehand shoot long on the second, left the English capital with some hard-earned experience and $A138,500 as her reward for battling through qualifying. O'Connell, one of eight Australians in action on the opening day, found the veteran Adrian Mannarino too much to handle, going down 6-2 6-4 6-3 in two-and-a-quarter one-sided hours. Sydneysider O'Connell must have feared the worst when he saw the draw, as he had been similarly sliced up by the 37-year-old French left-hander on grass three weeks ago. It represented a wretched start for the biggest contingent of Australian players at the grass-court slam in 30 years, with six more due in action later on Monday.
7NEWS
3 days ago
- Sport
- 7NEWS
Aussie Kim Birrell becomes first player knocked out of 2025 Wimbledon championships
Under blue skies more redolent of her Gold Coast home than London, Kim Birrell has achieved the unenviable distinction of being the first player knocked out of this year's Wimbledon championships. The 27-year-old, making her debut at the grass court slam, never recovered from a nervy start in which she surrendered the first set to No.22 seed Donna Vekic. Any thoughts that she might benefit from a London heatwave that had spectators seeking any shade they could find had quickly evaporated. A much-improved battling second set prompted hope, at 4-4, of forcing a third, but the experienced Croatian then took the last two games to complete a 6-0, 6-4 victory in 79 minutes. Birrell, who saved one match point but then sent a forehand long on the second, left the English capital with some hard-earned experience and £66,000 ($A138,500) as her reward for battling through qualifying. She was the first of seven Australians in the women's singles with Olivia Gadecki, Ajla Tomljanovic and Tahlia Gibson due on court later on Monday.
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Sport
- Perth Now
Birrell makes swift exit as Aussies open Wimbledon bid
Under blue skies more redolent of her Gold Coast home than London, Kim Birrell has achieved the unenviable distinction of being the first player knocked out of this year's Wimbledon championships. The 27-year-old, making her debut at the grass court slam, never recovered from a nervy start in which she surrendered the first set to No.22 seed Donna Vekic. Any thoughts that she might benefit from a London heatwave that had spectators seeking any shade they could find had quickly evaporated. A much-improved battling second set prompted hope, at 4-4, of forcing a third, but the experienced Croatian then took the last two games to complete a 6-0 6-4 victory in 79 minutes. Birrell, who saved one match point but then sent a forehand long on the second, left the English capital with some hard-earned experience and £66,000 ($A138,500) as her reward for battling through qualifying. She was the first of seven Australians in the women's singles with Olivia Gadecki, Ajla Tomljanovic and Tahlia Gibson due on court later on Monday.
News.com.au
24-04-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Ash Barty wiped from history by 19-year-old Aussie Maya Joint
Teenager Maya Joint has broken a record held by Australian tennis great Ash Barty by becoming the youngest Aussie to win a WTA 1000 level match on Wednesday (AEDT). On her tour-level clay-court main draw debut at the Madrid Open, the 19-year-old Queenslander outlasted local wildcard Carlota Martinez Cirez 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in what was her third win in three days. Watch the biggest Aussie sports & the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer. The victory, which came five days after her 19th birthday, means Joint is now the youngest Australian to win a WTA match at 'Masters' level since the system was introduced in 2009, eclipsing Barty who won at the Miami Open in 2017 when she was 20 years and 330 days old. The Aussie teen is quickly making the tennis world stand up and take notice as her latest win comes on the back of notable wins over the experienced duo of Sara Errani and Jil Teichmann in qualifying. Joint, who was ranked 269 in the world this time last year, will face World No. 10 Emma Navarro in the second round. Such is Joint's incredible last 12 months she has surged to No. 78 in the world and is set to receive direct entry into Roland-Garros next month as a result. That will mark her maiden main draw appearance at the French Open. Meanwhile fellow Aussies Ajla Tomljanovic and Kim Birrell didn't fare as well in the Spanish capital as they both were eliminated in the first round. Tomljanovic was beaten 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 by the lowly ranked Rebeka Masarova, while Kim Birrell put up a strong fight before ultimately falling 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 to American Peyton Stearns.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Birrell hits new heights as Aussie No.1 in Singapore
Kim Birrell is hitting uncharted territory as a potential new flagbearer for Australian women's tennis as she pulled off a fabulous comeback triumph to reach the quarter-finals of the Singapore Open. Currently ranked No.95 in the world -- the only Aussie woman in the game's top-100 -- Birrell is guaranteed to soar to a career-high ranking next week of at least 85 next week and could rise to as high as the top-60 if she was to land her first WTA tournament triumph. Birrrell, who reached her first WTA final in Osaka last October at the Japan Open and started 2025 just as impressively by beating world No.8 Emma Navarro en route to the Brisbane International quarters, found herself 5-2 down in the last set of her last-16 clash with American Hailey Baptiste at Kallang Tennis Hub on Thursday. From 5-2 down in the third set 😱Kim Birrell fights back to score a place in a tour-level quarterfinal for the second time this year!#SgTennisOpen — TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) January 30, 2025 But the 26-year-old battled back to reel off the next five games against world No.93 Baptiste and triumph 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 7-5 in nearly three hours to set up a last-eight meeting with another US player, Ann Li, who's already knocked out one Australian, Daria Saville, this week. The win typified the fighting spirit of Birrell, who over a three-year spell between 2019 and 2022 felt that constant surgery on her injured right elbow might simply derail her career. "I'm so happy that I've been able to come through the other end and it feels like it's way behind me now. I never want to forget what I've gone through, it makes me enjoy playing so much more," she told The Straits Times after the match. "It makes me enjoy the battle like today and appreciate those moments where you get through tough matches because I went through a period when I wasn't sure if I was even going to get back on court to experience moments like these." Birrell, who also made the final of the Australian Open mixed doubles with John-Patrick Smith, has big ambitions. "I don't want to limit myself to that ranking," said the Gold Coast player. "I want to have bigger goals to be well inside the top 100 and feel comfortable there and cement myself at that high enough ranking to be playing big tournaments every week." But Birrell's compatriots, Maya Joint and Olivia Gadecki, couldn't advance beyond the last-16, though. The immensely promising 18-year-old Joint was beaten 6-4 6-2 by China's Wang Xinyu while Switzerland's Jil Teichmann defeated Olivia Gadecki 6-4 6-4.
