Merida, Mexico, 25 February 2025 | Matt Trollope

While competing at the recent WTA 125 tournament in Cancun, Mexico, Maya Joint revealed her goal in 2025 was to crack the world’s top 100.

With her first-round win over Julia Grabher in Merida on Monday, she’s all but achieved that goal just two months into the season.

Joint powered past the Austrian in a touch over 90 minutes, sealing a 6-3 6-2 win with a forehand return winner. The victory comes after two similarly-dominant triumphs in the qualifying rounds.

As a result, she has risen to world No.87 in the live rankings, a significant improvement on her career-best mark of No.102.

https://twitter.com/WTA/status/1894172026551582986

When next week’s rankings are released, she is expected to become the youngest Australian woman to make her top-100 debut since Jelena Dokic in 1999; Dokic did so the week of 5 July that year at age 16.

Joint, 18, would be the second-youngest player in the top 100 behind world No.9 Mirra Andreeva. The 17-year-old Andreeva cracked the top 10 this week after winning the biggest title of her career in Dubai, a WTA 1000 tournament.

It also means Australia currently has three women – Kimberly Birrell, Joint and Olivia Gadecki – inside the top 100 of the live rankings.

RELATED: Birrell adjusting to life as Aussie No.1

Should world No.93 Gadecki remain there, next week would mark the first time Australia has had three WTA top-100 players since March 2022.

Joint next faces fifth seed Donna Vekic and will be looking to improve on her impressive 2025 win-loss record of 12-5. If she wins, it will mark her first WTA quarterfinal at 500 level, and second tour-level quarterfinal of the season after reaching the Hobart semifinals.

Lurking just outside the top 100 is Ajla Tomljanovic, a wildcard this week at the WTA 250 event in Austin, Texas.

She began her campaign on the perfect note with a 7-6(3) 7-5 triumph over world No.63 Katie Volynets.

Seven really is a lucky number @Ajlatom defeats Volynets 7-6, 7-5 in Austin.#ATXOpen pic.twitter.com/9ciVzzJixL

— wta (@WTA) February 24, 2025

Tomljanovic, who next faces either Jodie Burrage and comeback queen Petra Kvitova, has risen to 106th in the live rankings. She would need a deep run in Austin – likely as far as the semifinals – to ensure a top 100 return.

Such an outcome could see Australia with four women inside this bracket for the first time since 2019.

Birrell later joined Tomljanovic in the second round in Austin after beating defending champion Yuan Yue in two torrid tiebreaks.

Birrell eventually overcame the fourth seed 7-6(5) 7-6(5) after two hours and 15 minutes.

“I knew sort of what I needed to do in terms of game plan, and I’m glad I was able to stick with that and then play some really good tennis in the big moments,” she said.

“I think that was what got me through today.”