'Something I've always dreamed of': Maya Joint opens up after 'surreal' Wimbledon debut
Rising Australian tennis star Maya Joint was elated following her Wimbledon debut despite losing in the first round.
Joint put up a fight in her maiden appearance at the All England Club but ultimately succumbed to 19th seed Liudmila Sansonova 6-3, 6-2.
The new world No.41 earned direct entry into the main draw for the first time following her meteoric rise up the rankings over the past 18 months.
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Despite the tough result, the 19-year-old was ecstatic to have featured on the hallowed turf at Wimbledon.
Maya Joint during her first-round match against Liudmila Samsonova at Wimbledon. John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images
"Tough match and I feel I played really well, but I'm so lucky that I was able to play in the main draw for the first time. It's something I've always dreamed of doing," she told Nine's Today on Wednesday morning.
"The five-minute warm-up was really surreal. Being able to play on the Wimbledon courts was just so awesome. I hadn't played on them before; I never played a junior match there, so it was really fun."
Joint lived in Michigan, USA, for the first 16 years of her life before relocating to Brisbane in mid-2023 to train at Tennis Australia's National Academy. Her father, Michael, was a professional squash player from Melbourne.
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With her family relocating to Melbourne last month, Joint proclaimed that she is now "fully Aussie".
Embracing the Australian way of adopting an affectionate nickname, Joint penned 'Ginger Ninja'.
Maya Joint has adopted the nickname the 'Ginger Ninja'. @maya.joint via Instagram
"I put it on my Instagram bio, I thought it sounded pretty cool, and it just seemed to catch on," she said.
"My uncle made some shirts that had 'Ginger Ninja' on them when I played the Australian Open.
"It seems to be catching on and I love it."
Joint featured at Melbourne Park and Roland-Garros for the first time this year and made her grand slam debut at Flushing Meadows last year.
To kick her preparation for the third major of the season into overdrive, Joint won the biggest tournament of her career, taking out the Eastbourne Open in a marathon final on Saturday.
The 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (12-10) victory over Filipina player Alexandra Eala saw Joint enter the WTA's top 50.
En route to her first grass-court title, Joint defeated big-name players Ons Jabeur and Emma Raducanu.
"It's been a crazy last week, last month, last year," she said.
"It was an amazing week. I got to play some of my idols whom I watched growing up.
"I'd never been to Eastbourne before and I wasn't feeling too comfortable on the grass before I got there, but with each match I got better and got more confident."
