Azarenka overcomes joint pain – Tennis Rookie Me Central

Two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka got more than she bargained for in her match against 18-year-old Australian wildcard Maya Joint. The Belarusian former world number one needed three sets to shake off the fearless teenager at the Brisbane International.

Despite also being two-time Brisbane International winners, the No. 10 seed was the one behind in the first set against the young Australian. While Joint missed a number of chances to take set points, she showed fantastic composure, winning the tiebreaker 7-5 and immediately gaining the upper hand over her far more experienced opponent.

Despite having done it many times in her career, Azarenka just kept grinning and her experience and versatility in throwing shots stood out. Eventually she wore Joint down and the inconsistency of the young Australian’s bat began to show. It was a gutsy performance from a player ranked just outside the top 100 after a breakout 2024 season, but Azarenka was simply too consistent over the longer term.

“I was so nervous before the game because I felt like everyone had already played and I hadn’t played my match yet,” Azarenka said after the game. “She already had a match under her belt. I felt like I was a little rusty trying to figure out how to get back into it after not having as much playing time, learning the momentums and learning what to do in the right moments again.

“I thought I fought really well today. I tried running my game, not everything worked but that’s ok. I hope I can improve for the next game.”

The 35-year-old former world number one will face Czech Marie Bouzkova in the third round after winning the last three games of the deciding set against Joint in a 3-4 loss. But Joint’s efforts did not go unnoticed by the Grand Slam winner.

“If (Maya) plays like she did tonight, I think she has a pretty good future,” Azarenka said. “I have to exchange a few words with my coach because I’m not sure if he gave me the best tactics at the beginning, or maybe they just played completely different than what we saw in the first game.”

“She’s a great player, a great talent, obviously very young.”

In another result, Queenslander Kimberly Birrell stunned second seed American Emma Navarro in a massive upset at Pat Rafter Arena. The 113th wild card lost to Navarro in a 125 last year, but learned from that performance to claim a 7-5, 7-5 winner in two hours and two minutes.

It wasn’t a great day for the seeds as Ukrainian duo Marta Kostyuk and Dayana Yastremska both fell in straight sets, as did Russian Liudmila Samsonova and 11th seed Polish Magdalena Frech. Russian duo Polina Kudermetova and Anastasia Potapova continued their winning streak alongside Yue Yuan and Suzan Lamens, while third seed Daria Kasatkina needed an epic three-set win against Peyton Stearns. Czech Linda Noskova, seeded 12th, was the other winner on Wednesday.