By Jesse Dougherty and Billie Eder
On Sunday, 18-year Australian tennis player Maya Joint had a crucial decision to make: forfeit either her college eligibility in the United States, or a significant chunk of the $220,000 prizemoney she won in the US Open last month.
She chose college.
Joint’s attorney, Jason Miller, told The Washington Post that the teenager had forgone the money so she could start her career at the University of Texas this month.
The reason? The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) prohibits college athletes from accepting money beyond “actual and necessary” expenses for participation in a professional event.
Joint was one of Australia’s breakout stars at Flushing Meadows, where she went through qualifying to reach the main draw of a grand slam for the first time in her career.
The Michigan-raised Australian, who was ranked just inside the world’s top 800 at the end of last year, stunned German veteran Laura Siegemund with a straight sets victory in round one in New York, before losing to American Madison Keys in the second round.
Australian Maya Joint at the US Open last month.Credit: AP
Reese Brantmeier, a tennis player at the University of North Carolina, is suing the NCAA over the rules in the US federal court. Joint’s decision came after she filed a declaration Friday in the Brantmeier v. NCAA case, joining Brantmeier in asking the judge to grant a preliminary injunction that would keep the NCAA from enforcing its prize money rules.
The US Tennis Association requires all US Open participants to accept or forgo their prizemoney by the final day of the tournament, which was Monday morning in Australia. Because the court didn’t rule by then, Joint was forced to choose between the money or college tennis.
“The money is gone,” Joint’s attorney Miller told The Washington Post. “It’s immensely disappointing.”
In her declaration filed last week, Joint described the timeline of events after losing to Keys: “Joint visited the prizemoney office and told a USTA rep there was a pending motion for preliminary injunction – the Brantmeier case – that could affect whether she could claim her winnings. When Joint asked about the deadline to claim the money, the rep informed her she had until Sept. 8, the final day of the tournament. Miller, her attorney, then requested an extension for Joint, which would allow her to make a decision after the judge ruled on the preliminary injunction motion. The USTA’s general counsel denied that request, according to Joint’s legal filing.”
Maya Joint after her loss to Madison Keys in the second round.Credit: AP
“The requirement to submit all paperwork by the close of the US Open has been in place for some time and each athlete makes their own determination in consultation with their school, the NCAA and/or personal representative to request prize money and/or reimbursement of expenses,” a UTSA spokesman said in a statement to The Washington Post.
“While we understand and are empathetic to Ms. Maya’s situation, it would be unfair and inequitable to change our practice or grant exceptions to these rules in the middle of a tournament after others have already made their decisions and submitted their paperwork based on the long-standing practice.”
The second-to-last section of Joint’s declaration laid the stakes bare: “If I am forced to forfeit these funds, I am not aware of any means by which I will be able to recover payment of these funds from the USTA.”
An NCAA spokeswoman declined to comment on the situation.
Miller said Joint, along with many other elite athletes, wanted the chance to be part of a team after years of training alone, and the decision came down to her wanting the college experience.
“Those are all intangibles that don’t translate to a dollar,” he said. “What is it worth to you to be able to play with your peers, to be able to celebrate a win? Or having people support you when you’re going through a difficult time?
“She’s not choosing that over a little bit of money. She is choosing that over a ton of money. She’s made a lot of money in the last year.”
Washington Post
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