Teenager Maya Joint breaks into world’s top 100 for first time

A rankings breakthrough by a teenage tennis star has set a five-year benchmark for Australia ahead of a big teams event.

Australians are enjoying a rankings surge just a month out from hosting a Billie Jean King Cup clash on home soil.

Four female players are now inside the top 100, a feat not achieved since 2019.

Teen star Maya Joint and Ajla Tomljanovic surged inside the top 100 after making the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively at WTA events in North America, doubling Australia’s representation inside the elite bracket.

Tomljanovic jumped 18 spots to get back inside the top 100, while Joint, 18, broke through for the first time and is one of only two teenagers in the top 100.

The pair joined Kimberly Birrell and Olivia Gadecki, giving Australia four top-100 women for the first time since October 2019.

Daria Saville was only a set win away from making it five women in the top 100 for the first time since May 2019.

Maya Joint has made the top 100 for the first time. Picture: Michael Klein

Tomljanovic and Saville reached the semi-finals in Austin and Merida, marking the first time in seven years Australia had two WTA-level semi-finalists in the same week.

The last time was when Saville and three-time grand slam winner Ash Barty reached the 2018 Sydney International semi-finals.

The surge comes ahead of Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup round-robin clash against Kazakhstan and Colombia in Brisbane and gives team captain Sam Stosur a range of in-form players to choose from.

The tie will be played over three days and could include Joint, who was born in Michigan in the US to an Australian father, for the first time.

Having peaked at a career-high ranking of six earlier this year, Alex de Minaur has slipped back to 10th but still sits as Australia’s highest-ranked male, with another eight compatriots inside the top 100.

AUSSIES IN THE TOP 100

Women

76 - Kimberly Birrell

85 - Maya Joint

94 - Ajla Tomljanovic

99 - Olivia Gadecki

Men

10 -Alex de Minaur

27 -Alexei Popyrin

38 - Jordan Thompson

64 - Aleksandar Vukic

75 - Chris O’Connell

83 - Rinky Hijikata

86 - Thanasi Kokkinakis

96 - Adam Walton

97 - James Duckworth

Originally published as Teenager Maya Joint breaks into world’s top 100 for first time