Sam Stosur is thrilled by the shape she’s seen from Australia’s girls through the Summer season of Tennis, pleasure shared by Nicole Pratt and Jelena Dokic.
Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 12 January 2025 | Matt Trollope
There have been no scarcity of terrific storylines that includes Australian girls through the Summer season of Tennis.
Kim Birrell was only a level away from the Brisbane Worldwide semifinals, and returned to the highest 100, earlier than qualifying for the Australian Open.
Destanee Aiava additionally certified for the 12 months’s first Grand Slam occasion, boosting the variety of Aussie girls within the AO major draw to eight.
Kim Doable! 🇦🇺
An emotional Kimberly Birrell qualifies for the #AO2025 major draw after a resilient efficiency to defeat Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4 👏 pic.twitter.com/8OCH3GrnJ7
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 9, 2025
Talia Gibson and Maya Joint pushed far-more-experienced opponents (Maria Bouzkova and Victoria Azarenka respectively) to the restrict of their Brisbane main-draw debuts, earlier than Joint powered into the Hobart Worldwide semifinals, beating AO 2020 champion Sofia Kenin alongside the way in which.
On the Adelaide Worldwide, 16-year-old phenom Emerson Jones scored her first tour-level win, over Thirty seventh-ranked Wang Xinyu, no much less. She then gave top-10 star Daria Kasatkina a lot to consider in a 7-5 6-3 loss.
MORE: Teenaged Aussies face difficult AO debuts
There seems to be a positivity and momentum round Australian girls’s tennis that hasn’t been seen in earlier years. And Sam Stosur agrees.
“I believe the truth that within the rankings they’re all like this shut [gesturing with hands],” mentioned Stosur, a former world No.4 who now serves as Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup captain.
“So that they’re all vying to be, first, the most effective they are often, after which you’ll be able to’t inform me they don’t see one another having these outcomes and assume: ‘Oh effectively, why can’t I try this? We practise on a regular basis collectively, and I simply beat her, and cling on a second, if she’s doing it, I can do it.’
“And it’s improbable as a result of I believe you do try for extra whenever you’re in that scenario. In the event you’ve received an [Australian] participant on the high, once more it makes it extra potential. We haven’t had somebody tremendous excessive within the rankings now since Ash [Barty] – I imply, Ajla [Tomljanovic] was there at 30, however clearly then her accidents and stuff.
“I believe success breeds success, and successful’s a behavior, and taking part in effectively daily’s a behavior. I believe that every one of these gamers are doing that, and seeing that they get rewarded for doing it.
“They’re all pushing one another alongside, which is superior.”
When Stosur talks in regards to the Aussie women being bunched intently within the rankings, she means it.
Whereas there are at present no girls inside the highest 100 – Birrell fell two locations this week, to No.101 – there are seven ranked between 100 and 150. Three of them – Birrell, Joint and Olivia Gadecki – are ranked between 101 and 106.
RELATED: Upbeat Birrell seems forward to Australian Open
They’re trending up, and all it takes is one large consequence from any of them, and abruptly, Australia’s top-100 presence may very well be reworked.
Nicole Pratt, Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup coach, is as buoyed as Stosur with what she’s seen throughout January.
“I believe there’s a complete bunch of them which are simply exterior the highest 100 … and I believe that breakthrough goes to come back from Maya Joint,” Pratt declared.
Semifinalist standing ✅🔓 pic.twitter.com/gnZ4qTZh5i
— Hobart Worldwide (@HobartTennis) January 9, 2025
“We noticed week one Kim Birrell having a breakthrough, beating [top-10 player] Emma Navarro, that’s big, and received her again inside the highest 100 at 99. [She] simply certified [at AO], and her confidence is excessive.
“Maya reached the semifinals at Hobart and has an AO match-up in opposition to Jess Pegula, and it’s an attention-grabbing match-up. The rationale I say that’s as a result of if somebody asks me how Maya Joint performs, she performs a little bit like Jess Pegula.
“It’s thrilling to see for ladies’s tennis that there’s a 16-year-old [in Jones] going on the market in Adelaide, taking part in her just about first ever WTA occasion major draw and beating a top-40 participant on this planet. That’s big.”
One other former world No.4, Jelena Dokic, was commentating on the Brisbane Worldwide and was impressed by Birrell as she carved her method by means of the draw, supported by Stosur from the stands.
Now in Melbourne the place she reached the Australian Open 2009 quarterfinals, Dokic mentioned she was excited to see what the Aussie girls may do on a fair grander stage.
“How about Kim Birrell? I known as a pair matches in Brisbane, I like how she performs, I like her mentality and her perspective round it,” Dokic mentioned.
“Emerson Jones, I can’t wait to see what she does; 16 years previous, junior world No.1, beats a high 50 participant in Adelaide.
THE FUTURE IS NOW ⭐
Emerson Jones scores a large breakthrough in her @AdelaideTennis debut in opposition to the world No.37!#GoAussieshttps://t.co/9ZsEfRjt2Y
— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) January 6, 2025
“Taking a look at Australian tennis on the whole – unimaginable depth. I believe they’ve an awesome camaraderie as effectively.
“I at all times like to see what ex-players can carry to the desk like Sam and Lleyton [Hewitt on the men’s side]. I believe it’s a build-up of the final 5 to 10 years, the place you create this tradition and camaraderie. The place sure, we deal with the summer season tennis in Australia, however in addition they help one another exterior of that, as a result of it may possibly get robust out on the tour.
“I believe now we have an excellent system and that’s why we’ve received doubles and blended doubles Grand Slam champions, Olympic gold medallists, and we’re doing effectively in singles as effectively.”
On Monday at Melbourne Park, there are 12 Aussies in singles motion, together with 4 girls.
The stage is ready for them to maintain their momentum going.
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