Aussie rising star stuns former US Open champion

Joshua Mayne

Aussie rising star stuns former US Open champion image

Maya Joint continues to rise.

The 19-year-old has claimed her latest scalp, defeating former US Open winner Emma Raducanu at the Eastbourne Open. 

After dropping the first set, Joint powered back to send it the distance, before holding her nerve in a tiebreak against the No. 7 seed.

The 4-6 6-1 7-6(4) result puts the Australian into the quarter-finals of the grass court tournament. 

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"Today was really tough, there was a lot of up and downs, lot of momentum switches, but I'm really glad that I was able to tough it out in the end," Joint said.

"I'm really glad I was able to win this one.

"I definitely try to hit the lines. Doesn't always work, so I'm glad it worked today.

"But I think I'm an aggressive player, I like to use my backhand and am trying to learn how to play all-court."

Joint began her campaign in East Sussex with an impressive straight-sets victory over former world No. 2 Ons Jabeur.

She will now face the unseeded Anna Blinkova for a spot in the last four.

Maya Joint

It's promising signs for the teenage talent ahead of Wimbledon.

The Michigan-born player is preparing to make her debut at the All-England Club and enters the season's third grand slam in nice form.

At a minimum, Joint will reach a career-high ranking of 51 next week, but could surge higher with a deep run at Eastbourne.

Despite only turning pro this season, she is already Australia's second-ranked female player.

Recently naturalised Daria Kasatkina sits at the top as the world No. 16.

Joshua Mayne

Joshua Mayne is a content producer for The Sporting News currently based in Sydney, Australia. He has previously worked as a newsreader at 2SER and a journalist at Ministry of Sport. Joshua specialises in rugby league, motorsport and tennis. He is still waiting for Arsenal to win the Premier League again.