By Marcus Uhe
Narre Warren’s Destanee Aiava says her career-best run at the Australian Open this year validated her place in grand slam tennis.
The 24-year-old, who won her first ever grand slam match on Monday 13 January when she defeated Belgian Greet Minnin, was eliminated in the second round last week despite impressing her highly-touted opponent in the hard-fought three-set contest.
Aiava regrouped after losing the first set in a tie-break to American former Australian Open finalist and 10th seed Danielle Collins, winning the second set 6-4 before succumbing 2-6 in the third and deciding set on Thursday night, 16 January at Kia Arena in a near two-and-a-half hour battle.
There was very little separating the pair across the duration of the bout, with Collins winning just three more total points and Aiava keeping pace with her opponent on serving metrics.
However, the American showed her class with 20 more winners and managed to win more points on Aiava’s serve than Aiava did on hers.
Despite the loss, Aiava drew on the positives of the experience, leaving Melbourne Park with a renewed outlook on what 2025 has in store.
“I showed myself this week that I do belong here,” Aiava said after the match.
“I’ve known it for quite a while but actually putting it into action and doing it is completely different.
“I think I did that this week and hopefully the rest of the year goes, or if not, that’s okay too. At least I’ve had a really good week here, that’s all that matters.
“I think my level throughout my entire week was really good and being able to back it up match after match.
“Even though I lost today, it was there and I had my chances, she’s just got more experience and it’s another learning curve today.
“I don’t look at it as a negative at all, my match.”
Aiava was forced to qualify the hard way, reaching the main draw on the back of three wins in the qualifying rounds prior to the tournament beginning.
She dug herself out of trouble in the first round, staring down the barrel of a fifth-consecutive first round exit.
Her world ranking is set to drop significantly on the back of the result, currently sitting at 195, while the prize money won opens the door for her to enter more tournaments.
“I will have to reassess my schedule because I’ve still got doubles and mixed doubles as well, so I’ll need to take… a couple of days off and see what tournaments I’ve entered and see what’s best with where my ranking is at at the moment.
“I can definitely bring someone with me now which makes life a little bit easier on the road. I’m excited to see what’s next.
Collins showed admiration for Aiava, praising her ability in her post-match press conference.
“I wasn’t super surprised by how Destanee was playing,” Collins said.
“I remember seeing her a couple of years ago and always thinking that she’d end up making a good run and having a great career.
“(She’s) obviously very talented and was doing a lot of things too well at times.”
Aiava unwittingly found herself at the centre of controversy during and after the match, caught in the crossfire of an intense battle raging on and off the court.
With the Kia Arena crowd staunchly behind the Narre Warren product, a brash Collins played the role of pantomime villain in opposition to Aiava’s raucous support.
Collins told fans to “shut up” after reacting to her serving a fault early in the second set, which prompted a tense response, and forced the chair umpire to call for calm in the hostile arena.
As boos rang out following the 10th seed capitalising on match point, Collins egged on the crowd by raising her hand to her ear, and blowing kisses.
During her post-match on-court interview, Collins gloated about spending the ‘big fat pay cheque’ that comes with advancing in the tournament and embarking on a vacation, before sarcastically thanking the fans again, drawing further ire.
Aiava did not address the controversy herself but likened the atmosphere in Kia Arena to that of a ‘rugby match’.
“It was really loud again tonight,” she said.
“I feel like it was kind of equal, I heard a lot of her supporters and for me as well, but I tried to use it again to my advantage and they were amazing again.
“Even if I did hear them go for her, it was still a really great atmosphere.
“It was very different and I think we could use a little bit more of that in tennis.”
