In 2022 the “Barty party” abruptly came to an end when Ash Barty, fresh off her home grand slam win and at world number one, announced her retirement to the shock of the tennis world, leaving a gap of Australian talent in women’s tennis.

While it’s a cavity yet to be filled, there’s growing optimism around the up-and-comers, including 18-year-old Maya Joint, who got the attention of the global tennis crowd when she secured a shock semifinal berth at the Hobart International this month.

On her way there, Joint defeated Australian Open 2020 champion Sofia Kenin, world number 38 Magda Linette and world number 53 Olga Danilovic before second seed Elise Mertens ended her campaign.

A few months earlier, she had a major breakthrough with her first grand slam main draw singles win at the US Open, defeating Germany’s Laura Siegemund.

At the end of 2023, Joint was ranked 773. In just over a year she had climbed to 118.

She is one of eight Australian women competing in the main draw at the Australian Open, six of whom are under the age of 26. 

Joint is a dual citizen and was raised in Michigan. She represented the USA early in her junior career, before switching allegiance in mid-2023.

One of her goals for 2025 is to get inside the top 100 and play all four slams.

“There’s a lot of great players that are just outside the top hundred,” Joint said.

“It’s really nice to be a part of such a great group of girls. We all support each other. We all message each other after matches, win or loss. It’s really nice to be a part of that,” Joint said.

This includes Queenslanders 16-year-old Emerson Jones, who is the world’s top-ranked junior girl, and Kim Birrell, who is Australia’s highest-ranked woman at 99.

There’s also Olivia Gadecki, who earned a spot in the main draw, five wildcards in Daria Saville, Alja Tomljanovic, Talia Gibson, Joint and Jones, and Destanee Aiava who was one of the 16 players who made it through qualifying (along with Birrell).

None are expected to have particularly deep runs — particularly with brutal draws. Joint is up first against US Open finalist Jessica Pegula, while Jones has 2023 Australian Open runner-up Elena Rybakina.

But the youngsters have been causing upsets already this year. Jones beat world number 37 Wang Xin from China in straight sets in the Adelaide International.

Meanwhile, Birrell had an impressive run at the Brisbane International, where she upset world number eight Emma Navarro and fell agonisingly short of a semifinal spot to Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina.

Given this, Tomljanovic said the state of women’s tennis in Australia was in an exciting stage.

“We’ve got a few players who have been around the block, like myself, and we’re still capable of doing some damage. Then there’s this younger generation like Emerson and Liv [Gadecki] who have such a bright future,” Tomljanović told ABC Sport.

“There is that middle [generation] like Kim Birrell, who are settling into their primes and it took some time. I think that’s all about belief because I had a similar path.

“To see Kim have such a big week in Brisbane and then come and back it up in the qualifiers, I can tell you first-and that’s not an easy thing to do.”

Joint plays Pegula on Monday, January 12 at the Australian Open, slated for 5pm.