Maya Joint leads Australian charge at Cincinnati Open

Rising Australian tennis star Maya Joint has fought her way into the third round of the Cincinnati Open.

The 19-year-old overcame a mid-match wobble to defeat 18th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Joint proved much more effective on her first serve, landing 70 per cent compared with just 55 per cent for her Brazilian opponent.

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In a match that featured a swag of break-point opportunities, Joint had a slight advantage, converting seven of the 19 chances she set up.

Victory for Joint on the Cincinnati hard courts set up a third-round meeting with 12th-seeded Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Joint reached a career-high singles ranking of number 37 last month.

Looking to join her in the third round in Cincinnati are fellow Australians Daria Kasatkina, Kimberly Birrell and Ajla Tomljanović.

Kasatkina, seeded 15th in Cincinnati, is favoured to advance when she takes on Italy's Lucia Bronzetti.

Birrell faces a daunting challenge against US fourth seed Jessica Pegula, who reached the US Open final last year.

Tomljanović will also have her hands full when she takes on Denmark's Clara Tauson, who beat major winners Iga Świątek and Madison Keys on her way to the Canadian Open semifinals.

Świątek bounced back from her shock loss to Tauson in Montreal by beating Russia's Anastasia Potapova 6-1, 6-4 in the second round in Cincinnati.

AAP

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