At just 19, Maya Joint is already making waves in the tennis world, and she’s about to step onto the court of the Australian Open 2026. She is Australia’s first-seeded woman at her home Slam since Ash Barty. A rising star, Maya is one of the country’s brightest hopes in women’s tennis.
Who is Maya Joint?
Born 16 April 2006 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, Maya is the daughter of Michael (Mick) Point, an Australian professional squash player, and Katja Joint, a German squash player.
Her father left Australia at 19 years old to pursue his squash career. It brought him to Argentina, Canada and Germany, where he met Katja. The couple moved to the United States and settled in Detroit, Michigan in 2004. However, the family moved back to Australia in 2025. Mich is currently a coach at the MCC Squash Club.
Unlike her squash-playing parents, Maya gravitated towards tennis. As a dual citizen of the United States and Australia, she had the opportunity to represent either country in tennis. However, in mid-2023, at just 16 years old, she opted to represent Australia. Maya moved to Brisbane to train at Tennis Australia’s National Academy Queensland.
She moved to Melbourne in mid-2025, which is very handy for this year’s Australian Open!
What are her career highlights?
Maya competed in her first professional tournament in February 2021 in Orlando, Florida, at 14 years old. However, she was eliminated in the first qualifying round. She returned in 2022 and had two straight-set qualifying victories and won her first main draw match.
Maya won her first professional ITF title in December 2023 in Queensland at the Gold Coast Tennis International doubles draw with fellow Australian, Rosin Gilheany.
She made her Grand Slam debut at the 2024 Australian Open. In this tournament, she competed in mixed doubles with Australian Dane Sweeny as a wildcard pair.
Shortly after the 2024 AO, Maya became the youngest Australian tennis player to win an ITF W75 singles title at Burnie International against player Aoi Ito.
Her first major win came in the 2024 US Open against Laura Siegemund.
2025 was an active year for the newly minted professional tennis player. In April, she recorded her first WTA 1000 match win at the Madrid Open, the youngest Australian to do so.
Then in May, she won her maiden WTA singles title at the Morocco Open in Rabat, defeating Jaqueline Cristian in the final. She followed that up by securing her second WTA tour title at the Eastbourne International, winning against Alexandra Eala.
Early in the season, Maya broke into the WTA top 100 after strong performances, including a win over Julia Grabher at the WTA 500 Merida Open, which helped push her into the top 100 for the first time.
She also debuted for the Billie Jean King Cup team in 2025, playing in the qualifying rounds in Brisbane.
By the end of 2025, she had climbed to a career‑high ranking around world No. 32, establishing herself as Australia’s top female player headed into 2026.
First Grand Slam seeding and Australian no.1
Maya Joint’s campaign at the United Cup in Sydney offered a mixed picture as she geared up for the Australian Open. She was representing Australia alongside Alex de Minaur. Unfortunately, she missed Australia’s opening group match due to illness. They were eventually defeated by Poland, who went on to win the cup.
However, she rallied and went on to compete in the Adelaide International and won against 2020 Australian Open winner, Sofia Kenin.
Her ongoing performance has led to her ranking of 30 in the 2026 Australian Open seeding. She is the first Australian seed (in the women’s) since Ash Barty retired. In the last four decades, only six other Australian women have made it to tthe op seeds for the AO: Ash Barty, Sam Stosur, Daria Saville, Casey Dellacqua and Alicia Molik.
She is currently the number 1-ranked Australian player in the WTA Singles Rankings.
