Maya Joint and Chris O’Connell have punched their tickets into the second round at the Madrid Masters.
Madrid, Spain, 24 April 2025 | Ian Chadband, AAP
Maya Joint and Chris O’Connell captured resounding victories at the Madrid Open on Wednesday, as they advanced to the second round.
Joint eclipsed one of Ash Barty’s records, achieving another significant landmark in her burgeoning career. The American-born Australian earned her first WTA 1000 match triumph in Madrid.
On her tour-level clay-court main-draw debut in the Spanish capital, the 19-year-old Queenslander outlasted Spanish wildcard Carlota Martinez Cirez 6-2 2-6 6-4 for a third win in three days.
Just five days after her 19th birthday, it meant Joint became the youngest Australian to win a WTA match at Masters 1000 level, surpassing Barty, who won at the Miami Open in 2017 when she was 20 years and 330 days.
MORE: Barty downs Bouchard in Miami
Already having earned notable wins over the experienced duo of Sara Errani and Jil Teichmann in qualifying, Joint, who’s made massive strides over the past two seasons since switching allegiances to Australia, came through a roller-coaster first-round affair on Wednesday.
Brilliant in the opening set, Joint, the second youngest teen in the WTA top 100 at world No.78, lost her backhand solidity in the second stanza and had to regroup in the decider, eventually cracking Martinez Cirez’s serve for the fifth and most decisive time at 4-4.
Joint, who was ranked world No.269 this time last year, went on to eke out her victory in two hours and seven minutes, setting up the chance to make even more waves when she faces American world No.10 Emma Navarro in the second round on Thursday.
Ajla Tomljanovic’s hopes of joining Joint in the last 64 ended in a 6-3 1-6 7-5 defeat to Swiss world No.153 Rebeka Masarova.
With Kimberly Birrell having been beaten by American Peyton Stearns on Tuesday, it leaves Joint and Daria Kasatkina to fly the flag in the women’s draw.
The 14th-seeded Kasatkina, who had a first-round bye, will open her account against American Alycia Parks.
READ: De Minaur, Popyrin and Kasatkina target milestones in Madrid
Sydney’s Chris O’Connell has earned himself an inviting match against Taylor Fritz in the Madrid Open, hoping to conjure up a sensation in the ‘Magic Box’.
O’Connell secured a handy win in the first round of the ATP 1000 event at Madrid’s famous Caja Magica venue on Wednesday, beating Argentinian world No.59 Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-3 6-4.
The 30-year-old O’Connell, ranked world No.87, converted all three of his break points and saved seven of the eight he faced to join compatriots Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin, who both had byes, in the second round.
Aleksandar Vukic and Rinky Hijikata will vie to join the trio in the next round on Thursday as they face Kei Nishikori and Reilly Opelka, respectively.
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