Since Ash Barty’s retirement, Australia has been lacking a top-100 ranked female player. However, young Australian talent Maya Joint is making significant strides on the WTA Tour, and it seems inevitable that she will soon join Daria Saville in the top 100. Entering her maiden US Open unknown, Joint entered the second round after recording her first Grand Slam and also WTA Tour win over Laura Siegemund on Tuesday, forcing one question. Who is the 18-year-old, already in the hot waters of the major stage?

Originally from Michigan, USA, Maya Joint switched her nationality to Australian last year. She is committed to the Texas Longhorns college tennis team in 2024 and will study psychology and criminology at the University of Texas. Her ranking has soared from world no. 1390 to a career-high of no. 135, and it is expected to rise further following the U.S. Open. Joint’s impressive rise is attributed to her 53 professional tour wins, including two ITF titles. Though her triumph over a former French Open semifinalist turned heads, Joint isn’t as elated as one would think. Naturally, giving up a huge chunk of her prize money is a matter of concern.

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules stipulate that college athletes can only accept a certain amount of prize money before enrolling full time. While they can earn up to $10,000 per year, any additional prize money must be used to cover actual and necessary expenses. This means that Maya Joint, as a college athlete, will likely have to forfeit more than $100k out of her $140k(prize money won from her first-round victory over Siegemund) to comply with NCAA regulations.

Roddick, a former US Open champion and philanthropist, criticized NCAA’s rules. He argued that the current restrictions were unfair, pointing out that athletes in other sports, like football, could receive sponsorship deals from local businesses. “It’s absurd to me that a college athlete can take money from a local car dealership but can’t accept earned prize money from the US Open,” said former World No. 1 Roddick.

Boasting a 64/31 win-loss record for the season, she made her Grand Slam debut at the 2024 Australian Open, in mixed doubles with Dane Sweeny as a wildcard pair. Poised with confidence in NYC, Maya will play former US Open finalist Madison Keys in the second round in New York on Wednesday. And she is unfazed by the financial aspects of the circuit.

Maya Joint, who thinks “It’s(NCAA rules) crazy”, lets her mum handle it

Maya Joint is in no mood to end her New York dream run prematurely. Having slowly transitioned from ITF events, the Aussie’s nascent career has just taken off. While she looks to assert her dominance, the young talent is seemingly in the dark about her prospects. Especially when it comes to any finances involved in the game.

Talking in a post-match presser, the Aussie notably highlighted that her mother takes the aftermath of such situations up with the help of the ‘Texas Compliance Office’. “It’s crazy. I’ve never had (that kind of money). I don’t know what I’d do with it. (As) student-athletes, you can take the money from the tournament but you have to, like, make expenses until the end of the year. So it’s different from amateur to college. It’s very complicated. My mum looks at it and then the Texas Compliance Office helps me with all that.”

Regardless of how she fares against the former US Open champion, the Aussie will pocket north of $200,000 to her name. Seeing that clinching prize money takes a backseat for her, what do you think of her chances to make a deep run? Do let us know in the comments.