Mixed fortunes for Aussies on home soil as Maya Joint dumped out while Taylah Preston shines

One of the big storylines going into this year's Australian Open was in fact Maya Joint and how she would deal with the pressure of being the top Aussie alongside Alex de Minaur who as a player has put Australian tennis on his back during the tournament throughout his career.

But Joint has not exactly had the best time of it and that continued into the main event itself. While the 19-year-old has found tour success in the last few months, the Grand Slams have not exactly been a happy hunting ground as of yet and that continued on during Monday as she was beaten by Tereza Valentova on a mixed night for the home hopes.

Seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time, the 19-year-old's serve was a shocker as she was well beaten 6-4, 6-4 by the Czech teenager who is seen as a real star of the future and perhaps was the worst draw possible for Joint to get her teeth into during the early rounds of the AO. She dropped her service game five times on John Cain Arena coughing up eight double faults and facing 17 break points in total so in reality it could've been even more comfortable for Valentova.

Joint was the first seed from Aussie shores since Ash Barty took home the trophy in 2022 but the 30th seed was simply unable again at a Grand Slam to find the form that saw her catapulted into position alongside the likes of Mboko, Eala and Jovic into being that next generation of talent to follow Mirra Andreeva into the spotlight and trouble the big names. Valentova in comparison showed that her time was very much now as she played her main draw debut and thrived.

"Yeah, it feels amazing. I didn’t expect this last year at the beginning of the year. Like you said, I was playing ITF tournaments, and now I’m in the main draw here in Melbourne. It feels amazing to play in front of that crowd and in the stadium. It’s amazing," said Valentova on court.

Going from reaching the Quarter-FInals in juniors just last year to now winning at a Grand Slam, it has been a sharp rise for Valentova. "I mean, I think it happens so fast. I’m just trying to play. I’m playing bigger matches now with the best players in the world. I’m really grateful that I can be here and play in this type of tournament. To play the biggest tournaments you can play — I’m just really grateful and enjoying it."

Also asked about how a small nation in reality in Czech Republic thrives so much, she discussed why she thinks there are so many great players from Czech Republic. "We’re a small country, but we have so many good players. I think we can be proud of ourselves to represent the Czech Republic. It’s amazing. I don’t know, it’s just something in the air there — maybe in the water or something. I don’t know."

Joint hasn't really had the best Aussie summer anyway all told. She went into the United Cup under the pressure of being in a great tandem with Alex de Minaur on home soil with a nation wanting success but she got ill so barely played and she then played the week after in Adelaide and after good early displays, she was hammered by Mirra Andreeva. So in reality while she is a top 32 star now, there is still parts to Maya Joint that need work and that was on display again.

While Taylah Preston on the other hand did perhaps what was expected of Joint. Last week, she reached the semi-finals of the Hobart International losing out to Iva Jovic who surprisingly went on to lose the final to Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

She saw off Emma Raducanu en route there and wasn't really seen as the one to watch from the Aussie crop. But she now sets up a meeting with Linda Noskova in the second round after seeing off Shuai Zhang 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

"Yeah, I’m just really, really happy to get the win today, my first Grand Slam win. It means a lot. I’ve put a lot of hard work in, so it’s really nice," she said on court post match.

"Sometimes I’m calm, sometimes I’m not. I try and hope I’m more calm than not. Especially at the end of the third set, I started getting a little bit nervous, but I just tried not to think about it and focus on playing the point. I don’t know — maybe I did it okay."

She also faced her opponent recently and lost so she knew what to do and also wanted that revenge on home soil. "Yeah, we played each other about two weeks ago and I lost that one in three sets, so obviously I wanted to turn it around today, which I’m really happy I was able to do. We went over that match from a couple of weeks ago and tweaked a few things, and I guess it helped."

Especially in front of a home crowd including her family. "Thank you to everyone for coming out and supporting. I think it definitely helped me get through the end of that match, so thank you very much. To have my parents, my sister, and my auntie and uncle here as well is really nice. They don’t get to see me play too much live during the year, so it’s great to have them all here."