After achieving multiple breakthroughs in a standout 2025, Maya Joint has her sights set higher.
The 19-year-old – the third-highest ranked teenager in the world behind Mirra Andreeva and Victoria Mboko – recently assumed the mantle of Australia’s top-ranked woman and currently holds a peak ranking of world No.32.
It puts her in a position to next year earn a seeding at Grand Slam tournaments, events at which she wants to thrive.
PODCAST: Listen to Maya Joint on The Sit-Down
"We try not to set too many ranking goals, but I think a goal would be to get to the fourth round of a Masters 1000, third round of a Grand Slam, and maybe get to the semis of a 500,” Joint said on this week’s episode of The Sit-Down podcast.
“[So] more those kinds of goals. But then we're also just working on improving forehands and backhands, and mentally, and trying to become more of an all-court player."
This is the second time Joint has appeared as a guest on The Sit-Down, seven months after making her first appearance on any podcast when she joined The Sit-Down in April.
Back then, as she prepared to make her Billie Jean King Cup debut for Australia in Brisbane, she was ranked 78th, yet she has since won two WTA singles titles – Rabat on clay, Eastbourne on grass – plus beaten a string of higher-ranked players among more than 50 match wins in 2025.
Those results have catapulted her to the brink of the world’s top 30.
"The last couple of months have been really crazy. It's been a really cool journey that I've been on, so I'm really excited that it keeps going upward,” said Joint, who began 2024 ranked 684th.
"I don't know exactly what it was that brought me here [to this level]. I think I've done a lot of work on the court and off the court, and mentally. I don't exactly know what it was; I don't really know how I won those two titles either. But I'm just kind of taking it one match at a time, not really thinking about rankings too much.
"I definitely take a look back and think of what happened [at earlier points in her career]. Those photo memories pop up on my phone sometimes and I'm like, ‘oh wow, that was a long time ago’. But it really wasn't that long ago (laughter).”
Joint now finds herself headlining the Australian Billie Jean King Cup team which will take on Portugal and Brazil in this week’s Play-off ties in Hobart.
After that, it’s time for some much-deserved rest and recovery in the off-season – before plotting her assault on the field in 2026.
Listen to the full episode of The Sit-Down, a weekly podcast released each Monday featuring an in-depth interview with a notable tennis identity. Subscribe to The Sit-Down in your favourite podcast player.