'PROUD' MAYA JOINT SAVES FOUR CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS TO WIN EASTBOURNE TITLE

Maya Joint holds the Eastbourne trophy. (Getty/Adrian Dennis)

An unbelievable Eastbourne final was eventually won by Maya Joint after fending off four championship points in a thrilling tiebreak.

The 19-year-old Aussie showed her poise and composure in a topsy-turvy affair, having dropped six straight games before failing to cling onto a 4-2 lead in the deciding set against Alexandra Eala of the Philippines.

Trailing 2-5 in the tiebreak, Joint's defensive efforts were on full display, which contributed to saving four championship points en route to a crazy 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(10) victory.

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She now joins Carlos Alcaraz and Jessica Pegula as the only players to win titles on both clay and grass during the 2025 European swing.

"It's been an amazing year, an amazing two years," said Joint, who becomes the first Australian to win the Eastbourne event in its 50-year history.

"I'm very happy right now, feeling very relieved as well. It was a very difficult match.

"I'm proud of myself for coming back and staying in the match, even though I'd lost about nine of the last 10 games."

When Joint clinched her maiden WTA title at the Morocco Open on clay, a quick turnaround leading into Roland-Garros potentially hampered her chances, going down in the first-round against Ajla Tomljanović.

"It's really great preparation. I've got a lot of matches in before Wimbledon, and hopefully I can be in Wimbledon a little bit longer than I was in the French," she said.

"I think this time's a tiny bit different. I get one more day of rest, and I'll just detach myself a little bit more from the last match, and just focus on the match coming up.

"But I'm just really excited to get to London later today and step into Wimby for the first time."

An unbeaten run at Devonshire Park means Joint will soar to a career-high world No.41 when the latest WTA rankings release on Monday.

Russian 18th seed Liudmila Samsonova is her first-round match at Wimbledon.

Minutes after lifting the trophy, Joint paired up with Hsieh Su-wei in the doubles, where they fell in straight sets.

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