Maya Joint made it three wins in three tries against Sofa Kenin with a 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory in 1 hour and 36 minutes to reach the second round in Adelaide.
Adelaide: Scores | Draws | Order of play
The win thrilled the Aussie fans who packed Centre Court on Tuesday evening, watching their 19-year-old rising star claim her fifth and sixth straight sets against the 2020 Australian Open champion.
And she did it with poise.
“I knew that she likes to serve a lot out wide, so I just needed to hang on that serve on the deuce side,” Joint said to reporters. “I targeted her forehand a bit more because her backhand’s I think stronger. So I tried to make her move, mix up some spins.”
There were plenty of those moments in a match that featured high-level shot making from both players.
Kenin struck first, breaking the Australian’s serve to open the match and consolidating for a 2-0 lead. But Joint didn’t take long to respond, earning a break of her own with a backhand winner down the line to level at 3-all.
It set the tone for the rest of the night, as both players finished with more winners than unforced errors. Joint hit 25 winners to just 14 unforced errors, while Kenin produced 23 winners against 20 unforced errors.
After Kenin held to force a first-set tiebreak, Joint ended it as quickly as it began, ripping forehand winners to build leads of 3-1, 5-1 and 6-1. Kenin managed to save two set points, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
If the brutal end to the first set rattled Kenin, she didn’t show it. She raced ahead 4-1 in the second set behind aggressive hitting, with 12 of her 20 winners coming in those five games.
But that lead evaporated quickly, and largely through no fault of her own. Joint caught fire after holding for 4-2, producing this sequence:
- 4-3, Kenin: Crosscourt backhand winner to erase the break.
- 4-4: Forehand winner to secure the hold.
- 5-4, Joint: Forehand winner to reach deuce. Backhand winner to earn a big break point. Backhand error from Kenin to surrender the break.
- Match point: A forehand winner to seal victory on her Adelaide debut.
For those keeping score, Joint won the final five games of the match, hitting 14 winners to just two unforced errors in the second set while winning 65% of both her first- and second-serve points overall.
It was a calm, composed performance from the 19-year-old, even if she insisted afterward that she’s anything but calm off the court.
“I was kind of trying to take it point by point,” Joint said. “I knew that if I just kind of cut back on my unforced errors and focused on what I needed to do to win I would be able to come back in that second set.
“I think the games that I lost were pretty close. We had a pretty long deuce-ad game the game before, so I knew I was right there, I just needed to convert.”
Joint will face Ajla Tomljanovic next in an all-Australian second round matchup.
Shnaider gets the better of Fernandez to level head-to-head
Diana Shnaider and Leylah Fernandez were slated for an unusually high-powered first-round matchup on Tuesday in Adelaide, with two players just outside the Top 20 opening the day’s play.
The match delivered on every bit of the hype, as Shnaider and Fernandez went toe to toe through the first 11 games before Shnaider finally edged ahead for a 7-5, 6-3 win in 1 hour and 37 minutes.
The victory is Shnaider’s second straight over Fernandez at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level, bringing their head-to-head to 2-2 after Fernandez won the first two meetings.
“I knew it was going to be tough, but I prepared myself very well,” Shnaider said after the match. “I feel like the most important thing was just to stay focused and play every point, because I know she’s a great player.
“She makes winners. I make winners too. So I just tried to keep my composure and do my thing.”
That’s exactly what Shnaider did, as her ball-striking was sharp from the opening game. Though Fernandez made sure nothing came easily for the 21-year-old, matching her ball for ball throughout the first set.
On serve at 4-3, Shnaider earned her first break point in a four-deuce game, but Fernandez held to level at 4-all. She then repeated that formula, saving a set point in the next game with brilliant net play, but the pressure eventually mounted. Fernandez’s unforced error count crept up late in the set, and Shnaider broke in the 12th game to close it out in just under an hour.
Shnaider carried that momentum into the second set, taking a 3-0 lead before Fernandez could blink. Fernandez, as usual, refused to go quietly, saving four match points.
But it was all for naught, as Shnaider slammed the door with a pinpoint ace to move through to the second round.
There she’ll face either Katerina Siniakova or Dayana Yastremska. She and Siniakova have split their two career meetings, both last season, with Siniakova winning their most recent battle in Wuhan. Shnaider leads Yastremska 2-1, including a win last year in Tokyo, though the Ukrainian beat her in straight sets at Roland Garros a few months earlier.
Other results around the grounds
- Kimberly Birrell def. Anastasia Potapova 6-4, 6-4
- Marketa Vondrousova def. Liudmila Samsonova 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
- Tereza Valentova def. Jelena Ostapenko 7-5, 3-2 RET
- Yulia Putintseva def. Dalma Galfi 6-4, 6-4
