{"id":425033,"date":"2026-01-20T08:06:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T08:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/425033\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T08:06:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T08:06:12","slug":"maya-joint-vows-to-come-back-stronger-after-early-australian-open-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/425033\/","title":{"rendered":"Maya Joint vows to ‘come back stronger’ after early Australian Open exit"},"content":{"rendered":"

If Maya Joint is to climb higher on the WTA rankings, she may look back at the Australian Open as a turning point in her young career.<\/p>\n

Having entered the tournament seeded 30 in the women’s draw as Australia’s top-ranked player, Joint’s 6-4, 6-4 loss to Czech Tereza Valentov\u00e1 in the first round was not in the script.<\/p>\n

It came as Australian tennis fans desperately hoped the 19-year-old would make a run into the second week of the season-opening major.<\/p>\n

Australian Open: day three blog<\/a><\/p>\n

The first round of the Australian Open wraps up on day three, as huge crowds continue to flock to Melbourne Park.<\/p>\n

When Joint met reporters in the wake of her defeat, her disappointment was clear to see.<\/p>\n

But what was also evident was the mature approach Joint had already adopted as she reflected on her untimely exit.<\/p>\n

The result was a loss, but also a lesson.<\/p>\n

“It can only get better from year to year,” Joint said.<\/p>\n

“Disappointing, for sure. I think I’ll learn a lot from this match. I’ll just come back stronger next year, pretty much.”<\/p>\n

Public expectation and pressure come with the territory when Australians contest their home major, a fact Joint acknowledged when she fronted the media last weekend.<\/p>\n

Since pledging her allegiance to Australia in 2023, US-born Joint has quickly learned the country craves sporting success.<\/p>\n

Joint’s results in 2025 \u2014 highlighted by tournament wins in Rabat and Eastbourne \u2014 had boosted her profile and she arrived at Melbourne Park with a career-high ranking of 31.<\/p>\n

\"Maya<\/p>\n

Maya Joint (right) offered no excuses after losing to Tereza Valentov\u00e1. (AP: Dita Alangkara)<\/p>\n

She refused to use the expectations of fans or her seeding as excuses for her loss to 18-year-old Valentov\u00e1, who is appearing in just her third major.<\/p>\n

“The seeding didn’t really feel anything different than to a normal tournament,” Joint said.<\/p>\n

“I wanted to do really well here. I thought I had a good chance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“So it’s definitely a bit disappointing after today, but I’ll just try and get back at it next week.”<\/p>\n

Joint also chose not to blame the illness she suffered earlier this month, which forced her out of Australia’s opening United Cup tie against Norway in Sydney.<\/p>\n

“It was unfortunate timing that I got sick during that first match,” she said.<\/p>\n

“But I was feeling fine again for the Adelaide International \u2026 I was feeling good.<\/p>\n

“So I think it didn’t really affect my preparation, I don’t think, that much.”<\/p>\n

‘Tough, tough match’<\/p>\n

In terms of her performance against Valentov\u00e1, Joint was mindful she struggled to find rhythm with her serve.<\/p>\n

What goes on inside the Aus Open locker room<\/a><\/p>\n

According to Jessica Pegula, sometimes it is best to stay out of your opponent’s way when you are sharing the same locker room.<\/p>\n

She gave up 17 break points, five of which were converted by Valentov\u00e1, and conceded eight double-faults.<\/p>\n

“I had a few more double faults than usual,” Joint said.<\/p>\n

“I think I had quite a few unforced errors today. Just a tough, tough match.”<\/p>\n

Joint’s Australian Open campaign is not over, as she is scheduled to team up with compatriot Storm Hunter in the doubles.<\/p>\n

She expects to contest the singles at next month’s WTA tournaments in Abu Dhabi, Doha and Dubai, before setting her focus on the prestigious Indian Wells and Miami events.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If Maya Joint is to climb higher on the WTA rankings, she may look back at the Australian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425034,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,6571,1533,322,6010,31229,85,747,134929],"class_list":["post-425033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-open","tag-first-round","tag-local","tag-loss","tag-maya-joint","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-tereza-valentova"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}