But Daria Kasatkina, who Joint supplanted as the country's top player last October, suffered a setback at the Italian Open on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) as she lost her first-round clash just three days after winning her first title as an Aussie.
The 20-year-old US-born Joint, who's had to deal with a back injury for the last two months, will be hoping to quickly remind everyone of her exceptional talent again after a false start to the year in which she's won lost eight and won only two of her matches.
After her remarkable breakthrough 2025 in which the teenager rocketed from 118 to 32 in the world while picking up her first two career titles, it's been a chastening follow-up year so far, as she had lost six matches in a row before having to take a break with her back issues.
But clay, on which she won her maiden WTA title in Morocco last May, looks as if it could be her strongest surface as the world No.34 sets off on Thursday with a last-64 contest against Swiss Viktorija Golubic.
Kasatkina had enjoyed a welcome boost last week in Catalonia where she won a minor WTA 125 title, ending a difficult spell during which she had even walked away from the sport for a while late last year to stop herself struggling when she was, mentally, at "breaking point".
But it was back to now familiar on-court struggles for world No.66 Kasatkina on the day before her 29th birthday as she was beaten 6-2 6-3 by American Caty McNally, thus missing out on a shot at Iga Swiatek in the second round.
Ajla Tomljanovic is somehow battling on at the tournament she's already been knocked out of, but appears to be clinging on after being given a reprieve as a lucky loser following a defeat in qualifying.
Given a second chance on Wednesday, she was 5-3 down to Italian Noemi Basiletti in the first round and struggling again when the rains came to cause a halt to proceedings.
