Queenslander Kimberly Birrell has scored her first top-10 win in six years, and the largest of her profession, by beating world No.8 Emma Navarro to succeed in the final 16 on the Brisbane Worldwide.
Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 1 January 2025 | Dan Imhoff
Kimberly Birrell will vie for a maiden WTA 500 quarterfinal in her personal yard after springing the largest upset of her profession over second seed Emma Navarro on the Brisbane Worldwide on Wednesday.
Buoyed on by her dwelling crowd at Pat Rafter Area, the 113th-ranked wildcard avenged a Hong Kong defeat from October to the US Open semifinalist 7-5 7-5.
It was simply her second profession top-10 win after denying then-No.10 Daria Kasatkina within the opening spherical on the Queensland Tennis Centre in 2019.
Hometown HERO 🥺🇦🇺@kimbirrell98 scores back-to-back wins for the primary time at a WTA 500 occasion with an enormous upset over Navarro.#BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/aNbQZpL2Tr
— Brisbane Worldwide (@BrisbaneTennis) January 1, 2025
“I believe the largest distinction was that I had all of you guys on my facet. Thanks a lot,” Birrell mentioned of squaring her head-to-head with the American.
“I’ve spent so many hours on this court docket since I used to be little. I watched the Brisbane Worldwide after I was a child and to get to play right here and have the event that’s principally at house is so particular.
“I get to play in entrance of my household and my buddies and it’s not fairly often that my gamers’ field is totally full, so yeah, I’m so, so blissful.”
Whereas the 26-year-old moved and swung fearlessly, her path to victory was something however routine.
In each units she broke to serve for it at 5-4 and on each events was unable to shut it out on the first time of asking earlier than steadying the ship on her second try.
“Clearly, just a little little bit of frustration since you do type of like all of the onerous work, after which to get damaged again immediately, you understand how they are saying, it’s not a break till you maintain,” Birrell mentioned.
“However, yeah, I simply tried to not suppose an excessive amount of about it. I believe my serve, though it’s bettering, it hasn’t actually been one in every of my strengths in my recreation, and I believe that my return is one in every of my strengths.
“So I type of simply put that earlier recreation the again of my thoughts and transfer on, and nice, now I get to return, I really feel comfy, I do know what I have to do.”
The win marked a full-circle second for the Queenslander after a critical elbow damage led to an prolonged day out of competitors solely six months after her win over Kasatkina in Brisbane six years in the past.
“Clearly didn’t count on to be out injured for thus lengthy … There have been undoubtedly intervals the place I didn’t know if I used to be going to get again on court docket not to mention on the degree I performed right this moment,” she mentioned.
“So I’m actually glad that I persevered and so fortunate to have superb family and friends that helped me throughout that interval to get again to the place I’m right this moment.”
Victory set a third-round conflict with Anastasia Potapova, a straight-sets winner over final 12 months’s Australian Open semifinalist Dayana Yastremska.
One other Aussie, Aleksandar Vukic, challenged defending champion Grigor Dimitrov within the very subsequent match at Pat Rafter Area.
Dimitrov wanted 5 match factors to finally seal a 6-2 7-6(5) win.
Nick Kyrgios’ Brisbane Worldwide marketing campaign additionally got here to an finish when he and Novak Djokovic misplaced their doubles quarterfinal 6-2 3-6 [10-8] to prime seeds Nikola Mektic and Michael Venus.
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