Destanee hopes to live up to name at Australian Open
Perhaps because of her name as much as her potential, there has been an expectation Destanee Aiava would become a star of Australian tennis.
Perhaps because of her name as much as her potential, there has been an expectation Destanee Aiava would become a star of Australian tennis.
A star of junior ranks, the Melburnian held set points against Simona Halep in an Australian Open match back in 2018. The Romanian has since won a Wimbledon and French Open.
To borrow from the words of Aiava after an opening round win in the Gippsland Trophy on Monday, it was clear she plateaued for a period on the tour.
But then you consider her age. Aiava is 20. It was jarring to hear her asked if she felt like “a bit of a veteran” at an age most of her peers are in the throes of figuring out their lives.
A 6-1 4-6 6-4 winner over Chloe Paquet on Monday, Aiava is sitting outside the top 200 at the moment.
But in terms of the age trajectory of tennis, a few notable exceptions aside, the world No 215 has many years ahead to harness her undoubted talent.
Not everyone can be as precocious as American Coco Gauff, the 16-year-old who showed tremendous tenacity to edge Jil Teichmann 6-3 6-7 (6) 7-6 (5) in Melbourne on Monday.
Or Bianca Andreescu, the former US Open champion who is an underage peer of Aiava with a current ranking of six.
Aiava has endured a couple of testing years, including an illness that sidelined her for a period, since showing tremendous earlier promise and is only now starting to feel more comfortable in senior ranks.
“(It has been) a bit easy and hard, I guess. It‘s a completely different level from juniors to (the) WTA, as well,” she said.
“When you’re young, you’re playing with nothing to lose. Then things kind of plateau a little bit for some.
“I think, over the years, I’ve been playing a lot more WTA (tournaments), as well. I think everything’s just a lot more comfortable now.”
Given the circumstances surrounding quarantine, there was a school of thought Australian players might benefit from the clear training advantages they held this year.
Instead every opening day combatant bar Daria Gavrilova found themselves socially distanced from their opponents.
But there were better signs on day two as Melbourne Park doubled the number of events on site from two to four.
The ATP Cup joins the party Tuesday and a third WTA event, which his strictly for women who endured a strict lockdown, will begin on Wednesday.
Aiava and world No 1 Ash Barty, who opens her singles campaign on Margaret Court Arena in the Yarra Valley Classic against Ana Bogdan, are the only two Australian women still alive this week.
Gavrilova was beaten 6-1 6-4 by Serena Williams on Monday. But the right-hander played should be highly encouraged by her week given she tested the American legend.
There were encouraging signs in the men’s singles for those seeking to use the week to build their rankings and confidence for the year ahead.
Jason Kubler was a 3-6 6-3 6-4 winner over Italian Lorenzo Sonego, the world No 33 who rose rapidly through the ranks last year.
Emerging Sydneysider Aleks Vukic was a strong 6-4 7-5 winner over Yen-hsun Lu, while his recent training partner Chris O’Connell defeated Dominik Koepfer 5-7 6-4 6-1.
Another Sydneyside Max Purcell defeated Norbert Gombos 6-4 6-4, with the three New South Welshman progressing in the Great Ocean Road Open.
Li Tu, a former junior Davis Cup representative who is on the comeback trail but playing without a ranking, fell 6-4 7-6 (5) to the world No 106 Pedro Sousa in his first ever ATP Tour match.
Nick Kyrgios will return to the court against the 208th ranked Alexandre Muller on Tuesday afternoon.
Alexei Popyrin, James Duckworth, Andrew Harris, Jordan Thompson, Jon-Patrick Smith, Tristan Schoolkate and Dane Sweeny are among the Australians in action in the two ATP singles events.
Australian No 1 Alex de Minaur will lead the nation in an ATP Cup tie against Spanish great Rafael Nadal on Tuesday night on Rod Laver Arena.
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