Destanee Aiava must wait for her maiden grand slam match win, but the youngest player in the Australian Open main draw showed enough to suggest that day may not be too far distant. The 16-year-old wildcard was beaten 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) by German qualifier Mona Barthel, but not all was lost.
Aiava was competitive and composed for the most part against an experienced opponent who was once ranked as high as 23rd, and won the first of her three career titles in Hobart four years ago. But 38 unforced errors contributed to her downfall against a slightly more frugal opponent, albeit one who tightened up when serving for the match.
The Victorian schoolgirl has a great deal to learn and improve, obviously, but this was her first taste of tennis at the highest level, and a $50,000 prizemoney cheque will help to bolster an already-substantial shoe collection.
Most impressive was the way Aiava saved a match point at 4-5 in the second set with a cracking backhand winner after a fine rally, then broke back to force a tiebreak. A last stray backhand eventually finished the encounter on show court two after 92 minutes.
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Aiava earned her main draw wildcard as the national 18-and-under champion, and logged her first tour-level win as a qualifier at the Brisbane International earlier this month, beating the seasoned Bethanie Mattek-Sands before falling to dual grand slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova. Her vision for her future is to become the world No.1, and wherever Aiava's journey eventually takes her, it is now underway.