12 months ago Destanee Aiava’s first taste of life on the WTA Tour was a 6-0, 6-1, loss Urszula Radwanska in the qualifying draw for the Hobart Open. A year later she has notched up her first WTA main draw win in Brisbane as she prepares to make grand slam history.
Coming through three rounds of qualifying at the Brisbane Open, where she dropped only eight games, Aiava played three-time doubles grand slam champion Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the first round on Tuesday. The disparity in experience between the two had little impact on the outcome as the 16-year-old battled to a milestone 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, win.
“I was pretty nervous playing in front of that many people. I have never played in front of such a big crowd before,” said Aiava.
“I think the first set of the match I started off pretty bad. I think coming out, onto the court, I need to work on not being so tight and feeling the pressure.
“But as the match progressed, I felt a little bit more relaxed.”
During her rain-affected first round match, the 16-year-old won 75% of her first service points and converted 3/6 break points.
Aiava made headlines earlier this year after winning a wildcard for the upcoming Australian Open following her triumph at the national under-18 championships. She will become the first ever player, male or female, born in the 2000s to play in a major event.
There is little fear shown by the teenager with her gutsy play. Ask last month who she would like to play in the first round at Melbourne, she named 22-time grand slam champion Serena Williams without any hesitation. Williams was the one who inspired the Australian to take up the sport after watching her play at during the 2005 Australian Open.
“I was, like, ‘I want to become No. 1 in the world’,” she said.
“It was just her (Williams’) vibe. Like, I couldn’t feel it from the other side of the TV, but it was just her energy, and that kind of drew me to the sport.”
Unlike many on the tour, Aiava is taught by her parents. Her mother is a self-taught coach of American Samoan descent. Meanwhile her father is a powerlifter, specialising in his daughters strength and training routines.
Already the first player born after the year 2000 to win a main draw WTA match, Aiava will face Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round.
Pliskova, Svitolina through
In other matches at Brisbane, third seed Karolina Pliskova progressed to the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-4, win over American qualifier Asia Muhammad. The encounter was a milestone in Muhammad’s career, who was playing a top 50 player for the first time in her career. Despite a valiant attempt, she was unable to derail Pliskova from entering into the last eight at Brisbane for the first time in her career.
Sixth seed Elina Svitolina endured a tough second round match. Facing America’s Shelby Rogers, the world No. 14 required over two hours to clinch the match 7-5, 2-6, 7-5. She now faces a potential meeting with world No. 1 Angelique Kerber. Kerber will play Ash Barty in her second round match on Wednesday.
Finally, France’s Alize Cornet followed-up on her first round win over seventh seed Elena Vesnina by brushing aside Christine McHale 6-2, 6-1.
