One is giving tennis a last shot before a potential pivot to fashion design. Two veterans, desperate to prove they still belong. Then there is a pair of the most promising young female Australian players in recent memory.
The local contingent contesting the Australian Open women’s singles are full of colour, rich in stories. The same could be said of the cupboard of qualifier Destanee Aiava, who only booked her place in the main draw with a three-set victory over German Eva Lys on Thursday.
The hard-hitting 24-year-old dropped to her knees in elation after her victory and said afterwards this year will be her last in professional tennis unless she cracks the top 100. “I told myself, if I wasn’t happy with my year this year, I’m going to go get a degree.”
Aiava reached as high as No 133 last year, and she has now qualified for the past two grand slams. The Victorian, whose mother Rosie played for the Wallaroos, believes her recent uptick in form is down to an improved mental state.
“It’s really me getting out of my own way and actually not shying away from wanting to succeed in this sport,” Aiava said. “I know I’ve always had the talent and the hard work and all the other stuff. It’s just my brain.”
Aiava was a highly-touted teenager but her career hasn’t met her own expectations. Over eight years on the Tour, she has yet to crack the US$1m mark in prizemoney, and doesn’t currently have an apparel sponsor.
She has used the situation to her advantage though, and has drawn attention from tennis fashionistas for her throwback outfits. “I don’t like wearing the same thing as everyone else, and I had to do that whilst I was sponsored,” she said.
“I am hoping to get a sponsor, so I’ll have probably have to put up with wearing the same thing as other people, but for now I’m loving picking whatever I want to wear and buying whatever I want. Even if you lose, it’s still a fashion runway when you’re on the court.”
Aiava has been scouring Ebay and Facebook Marketplace for options, and plans to pick up something blue before her first-round match against Germany’s 94th-ranked Greet Minnen.
The draw was less favourable for Australia’s teenage hopes. 18-year-old Maya Joint – who won a match at the US Open last year and is currently on a giant-killing run to the semi-finals in Hobart – will play American seventh seed Jessica Pegula in the first round. 16-year-old Emerson Jones, the first Australian to be the top-ranking female junior since Jelena Dokic in 1998, meets sixth seed Elena Rybakina.
Aiava said the pair are doing “amazing” and joked she knew better than most, as she has already lost to Jones. “I think she’s going to be a star very soon,” Aiava said. “It does motivate us older girls as well to see they’re so young and they’re already so far ahead of us.”
The older generation is headed by veterans Daria Saville and Ajla Tomljanovic, both in their early 30s and both given wildcards as they look to re-establish themselves in the top 100.
Tomljanovic pulled out of Brisbane and Hobart tournaments ahead of the Open because of a knee complaint, and will meet emerging American Ashlyn Krueger. Saville meets 75th-ranked Russian Anna Blinkova.
The top-ranked Australian is Olivia Gadecki at No 96. The 22-year-old faces former world No 9 Veronika Kudermetova. 20-year-old Talia Gibson was given a wildcard and meets Turkish player Zeynep Sonmez, who is ranked 93. And qualifier Kim Birrell faces a formidable first up opponent in 13th seed Anna Kalinskaya.
