American-born Aussie Maya Joint made her tour-level main draw debut at the 2024 US Open, coming through qualifying to reach the second round. She's been rising through the rankings ever since, starting 2025 with a semifinal run at Hobart by defeating No. 4 seed Magda Linette and former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.
The redhead has been on fire this spring, lifting both singles and doubles trophies at Rabat, only dropping one set en route to the titles. On Saturday, Joint defeated Alexandra Eala, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(10), to win the Eastbourne title and break into the WTA Top 50.
Check out some fun facts about the trophy-winning teen:
Racquet sports run in her veins
Joint's father, who grew up in Melbourne, was a professional squash player, and is now a squash pro in the Detroit area, where Joint grew up. When she was in kindergarten, she started hitting tennis balls on the courts next to the local playground—with squash racquets.
Her father is the reason she is able to compete under the Australian flag. Joint has always had dual citizenship with Australia, but pursued the switch late in her teenage years to train and prepare for playing in college, which she ultimately forgoed in order to turn pro, although she originally committed to playing at the University of Texas.
Moving on up
Joint was one of the biggest movers in 2024, jumping from No. 684 to No. 119 over the course of the year. In fact, only four-time major champion Naomi Osaka rose more spots in the rankings to end 2024 in the Top 200. She jumped 18 positions after a quarterfinal run in Merida earlier this year to make her Top 100 debut at No. 85, and now sits at No. 41 after winning titles at Rabat and Eastbourne.
While these are huge accomplishments, Joint didn’t do much to celebrate her entrance into the Top 100 other than grabbing ice cream—but the teen says she would’ve done that anyway. Part of that is also due to the fact that she’s still striving to improve, and won’t rest as she looks toward the ultimate goal: world No. 1.
“Any milestone in the top 100 is really special. Top 50, top 40, top 30, anything is just a crazy achievement. I think it's important to celebrate when you do it, but not let it take focus away from... like, you've not reached the goal yet,” she told ausopen.com.
She recently made her Billie Jean King Cup debut
After serving as an "Orange Girl" (a junior who joins the team as a practice player to gain experience) for the Green and Gold at the 2024 BJK Cup Finals, Joint got to officially represent her country at the 2025 Qualifiers in Brisbane earlier this year. She played two rubbers during her debut, defeating Juliana Monroy of Colombia, 6-1, 6-0, but lost to Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
Joint was thrilled to get her first BJK Cup win at the event, especially in front of a home crowd.
“It’s very special," she told BillieJeanKingCup.com. "Such an honour to be a part of this team. Feels really good to come back after a loss two days ago. The team has lifted me up and made me play really well today.”
