Australia’s highest-ranked player in women’s singles is a teenager: Maya Joint.
At 19 years of age, Joint enjoyed her first full trip around the WTA Tour this year and recorded an incredibly impressive campaign.
She reached a career-high ranking of 32nd in the world during October and bagged the first two titles of her career.
Joint clinched her first tour-level crown at a WTA 250 event in Rabat, and followed it up by winning her second just a month later at the Eastbourne Open.
Now, after breaking through, the young star has revealed her three big goals for the 2026 season.
Maya Joint discusses her career on the WTA Tour so far
As per the WTA website, Joint said of her run in 2025: “I definitely didn’t expect to end up this high in the rankings. It’s definitely a pleasant surprise.
“Just the way that my season was going, I was playing some really good tennis and just having consistently good results on all surfaces.
“I definitely didn’t think I was going to get to 32. Didn’t think I would end the season as the No. 1 Aussie, that’s for sure.
“I’ve gotten more used to the top level of players. I’ve just played a lot more of them this year than I did last year.
“I think it’s going to be exciting to have a second year on tour, where I’m going to mostly places that I’ve already been to, so it’s less new and scary in getting to find your way around. I think it’ll be good.”
Joint then stated that her three main goals for 2026 are to win a WTA 500 event, advance to the fourth round of a WTA 1000 tournament, and reach the third round of a Grand Slam.
Maya Joint looks ahead to her first tournament of 2026
Next year, Joint’s first appearance will come at the United Cup, where she will represent Australia, who are set to compete in group D against Czechia and Norway.
Joint said of the competition: “It’s a really fun event to start the season off with. I also think it’s a lot of pressure, just because team events are always different.
“When you’re playing for your country, you feel a different type of pressure. It’ll be an interesting situation.
“I’ll be nervous because it’s a team. Then I’ll be nervous because [it’s] the first match of the season. It’ll be a super fun event, which will just set a really good tone for the rest of the year.”
The United Cup will take place in Perth and Sydney from the second of January to the 11th.
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