Maya Joint took a chance on change, and now she’s climbing fast

INDIAN WELLS — She was born in Detroit and grew up in Michigan her first 16 years. But two years later, if you listen carefully, you can hear it: a hint of Brisbane creeping into Maya Joint’s words — the rrrs sometimes bending into ahhs.

How can this be? Well, it’s a long story, a teenager’s bold decision to completely change her narrative, to relocate halfway across the world by believing in herself.

On Tuesday at the BNP Paribas Open, Joint sat easily in the players’ lounge, wearing a baggy sweatshirt. A first impression did not fit the visual profile of a top-flight player — more like a future biochemistry major. She wasn’t wearing her usual blousey brown glasses, but on court she won her final qualifying match with her trademark white-framed, red-tinted sunglasses.

The 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Mirjam Bjorklund sent the 18-year-old into the main draw here at Indian Wells. She’ll play Sorana Cirstea, 16 years her senior, in a first-round match on Thursday.

How far, how fast has Joint come? One year ago, she was No. 331 in the PIF WTA Rankings, winning two matches in an ITF W35 event in Santo Domingo — she got to the quarterfinals and took home $672.

“It’s been going pretty fast, compared back a year ago when I first went out on the tour,” Joint told wtatennis.com. “I’ve had a lot of good results that proved to myself that I belong at these type of tournaments.”

Last week at the Merida Open Akron in Mexico, she qualified and reached the quarterfinals of her first WTA 500, beating No. 20 Donna Vekic in the process. She’s currently ranked No. 85 and, along with Mirra Andreeva, is one of only two teenagers in the Top 100.

“That’s kind of crazy, I think,” Joint said, laughing. “It was a goal of mine this year to get inside the Top 100,” Joint said. “It was special to do that and join the other Aussies.”

And then she went on to reference No. 76 Kimberly Birrell, No. 94 Ajla Tomljanovic and No. 99 Olivia Gadecki. There was an unmistakable pride in her voice as Joint ran through those names, suddenly now her compatriots.

The story of her dramatic relocation begins with her father, Michael, a professional squash player from Australia. Growing up in Michigan, there were tennis courts just down the street. By the time she was in kindergarten, Joint was already hitting tennis balls with her dad — using a squash racquet.

While she already was having some success on the ITF circuit at the age of 15, Joint wondered if Australia — where she had visited when she was younger and enjoyed citizenship — might hold her future.

“I wasn’t getting the support I wanted or thought I had deserved from the U.S. Federation,” she said. “So we reached out to Tennis Australia to see if we could switch my flag from the U.S. to Australia and if I could get some training opportunities in Brisbane.

“We had a lot of video calls and back and forth, trying to figure out who I was, pretty much.”

They flew her down to Brisbane for a two-week trial and both parties came away satisfied.

“They saw the potential,” Joint said, “so, luckily, it worked out.”

It happens more often than you might think. Paula Badosa and Elena Rybakina, for example, were born in countries different from the ones they have come to represent.

Joint said she feels good about her decision.

“I got really lucky with the coaches that I got — tennis coach, fitness coach, mental coach,” she said. “Everyone’s been so supportive. All the girls, everyone’s just been so amazing.

“You can play outdoors all season long — that doesn’t happen in Detroit. There’s an abundance of players, a lot of good women and men who train in Brisbane. And there’s usually someone there all year round.”

Although she qualified, Joint survived some dicey serving. Against Bjorklund, she was broken seven times and hit nine double faults. The good news? She broke Bjorklund nine times and showed grit serving at 3-all, 15-40 in the third set — by winning four straight points.

The objective at the moment is to feel more comfortable in these big events on the Hologic WTA Tour — and get stronger in the gym. If Joint keeps her ranking up, she’ll be placed directly into the main draws of the seasons’ three remaining Grand Slams, another goal, along with making Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup squad.

Joint’s ranking may rise and expectations will grow, but for now, she’s keeping things simple.

“I usually set goals to just improve my game,” she said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.”