When it comes to career breakthroughs that will be widely celebrated within Australian tennis, the triumphs of Kim Birrell and Adam Walton in Paris on Tuesday will be toasted across the country.
Hours after Walton produced the best win of his career when ousting former world No.1 Daniil Medvedev, Birrell delivered a tennis version of “hold my beer” to her good mate when dropping a massive upset on American star Jessica Pegula.
Watch the biggest Aussie sports & the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
Walton hails from Home Hill, a small cane sugar town in Queensland’s north. Birrell is from the Gold Coast, where her parents run a local club. If there is an Origin omen from Roland Garros leading into tonight, it is to get on the Maroons.
Birrell was tracking her mate earlier in the day after arriving for her match, which was scheduled for fourth on Simonne Mathieu Stadium, and said the five-set win of Walton over the former US Open champion Medvedev helped to inspire her.
“I think as Aussies we really do cheer each other on,” Birrell said.
“I’m good friends with Adam, and his coach (Mark Draper) as well has helped me out in my career. When I saw he won, I was following his match and then saw him and his coach afterwards, and I was super happy for him.
“I think I did feel and I was inspired by his win. When you see someone have a result like that, it does give you a little bit of a pep in your step. I think it’s maybe not a coincidence.”
Mixed results for Aussie Women in 1st Rd | 01:05
Birrell’s determination to overcome a career-threatening elbow injury which left her doing work experience in the media arena across a couple of Australian summers around the pandemic is well told. She worked hard and she was popular.
The right-hander, who dropped the first set against the world No.5 before winning 1-6 6-3 6-3, was a world-class junior but has fought incredibly hard to make the transition into professional ranks, with the injury stalling her progress.
Even now, she has a slightly abbreviated service motion and is not able to fully extend her right arm due to the issue, but over the past two seasons has made finals in Japan and India to cement a spot in the world’s top 100 and starts in grand slams.
She had clinched a couple of top 10 wins previously against her now compatriot Daria Kasatkina and another top American Emma Navarro.
But to defeat Pegula, a former US Open finalist and top 10 fixture for several years, in a grand slam after being whipped in the first set elevates this triumph to the top.
“It’s definitely up there,” she said.
“I mean, it’s hard to beat playing at home in front of my friends and family, but I think in terms of my career and just how hard I’ve worked over the last couple of years to improve my game on clay, because it’s out of my comfort zone, (it is great).
“To really just know that I’ve put in the work and to trust it on a match court, I think that’s the difference that happened today, because in the last few matches, I’ve felt like I’ve been able to play how I want to play on clay in practice, but not quite done it and executed it in the big points in matches.
“I guess I’m just really proud that I was able to play this well on a surface that doesn’t feel that familiar to me, to be honest.”
Sabalenka in scary form at Roland-Garros | 01:20
Pegula is a popular player on the tour but there was plenty of support for Birrell in the stands as well as a sizzling day turned into a sweltering dusk, and her supporters were not just wearing the green and gold.
Her dad John was coaching in Germany when she was born and her mum Ros befriended a Parisian with whom the Aussie has stayed with for years when travelling the circuit.
“My parents, they’re Aussies, but they lived in Germany for quite a while and I was born there (before) they moved home,” she said.
“My mum met a lovely French lady who is now her best friend, and they’ve been best friends since their 20s when they met in Germany. So each time I come to Paris, I stay with them, and they’ve also come to Australia throughout my childhood.
“Their girls are a similar age to me and my brother (and) they are some of our closest family friends. They always come to watch me play here in Paris. I haven’t quite got the win for them, so I think this was a pretty cool moment for me to see them in the stands and with them watching too.
“As Aussies, we’re just on the road all the time, so to have somewhere where I can … see people that I love, leave some stuff in Europe and make my bags a little bit lighter when I’m traveling around to tournaments, get a home-cooked meal meal (is great).
“I also know the area that they live really well now. It’s so familiar. I think that really helps. We all try to find little pieces of home on the road, and this is definitely a piece of home for me.”
The 28-year-old is a class act on the court and off it, with her ethic and humility a feature and that is just one of the many reasons this significant step in her career will be well celebrated back in Australia.
As just one of many examples of this, in the minutes after an Aussie Open doubles win in January she made a special effort to race to a memorial for journalist Duncan McKenzie-Mcharg, who died late last year.
She had always appreciated both his humour after good wins and sensitivity after losses, which included a couple of near-misses in Paris in recent years that left her in tears, distraught her hard work had fallen narrowly short.
In an emotional speech to those who worked with McKenzie-McHarg, be it journalists, administrators or others who crossed his path in world tennis, she celebrated his immense talents.
A few months later on the warmest of nights in Paris, in a beautiful court encased within a greenhouse, the tennis world got to see her very best talents and celebrate a victory borne from a great attribute, namely her refusal to quit.
“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, to be honest. I just am really proud of the way that I stayed in the match and was able to turn it around,” she said.