Eels Blogs

At one point, as 16-year-old Destanee Aiava was discussing how she was splitting her senior schooling over three years to accommodate her sporting endeavours, there was a temptation to follow by asking: "And what do you want to do when you grow up?"

No need. Aiava made that decision back when she was seven and hasn't budged. Inspired by Serena Williams, the Melbourne teenager decided she wanted to be not only a tennis pro but the best in the world. It's been a promising enough start.

Aiava has set up a clash with world No.5 and Brisbane International fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova after defeating crafty American Bethanie Mattek-Sands over two rain-filled days at the Queensland Tennis Centre.

It took all of her obvious talent plus composure beyond her years to hold her nerve then close it out, finally prevailing 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 and getting a crack at the two-time grand slam champion in a match that should take centre stage on Pat Rafter Arena.

With mum and coach Rosie watching on, as well as dad and fitness coach Mark, the already physically imposing Aiava muscled her way to victory, then was hustled straight to the practice courts to work on her serve.

"She [mum] just said 'good job'. And took me to the practice court. I was out there for about 20 minutes working on my serve. I wasn't very consistent during the match," Aiava said afterwards.

Aiava was virtually unknown a few days ago but the curiosity began to build as she swept her way through qualifying to the main draw. Already she has secured a spot in the Australian Open and has the power game to ensure the vastly more experienced Kuznetsova knows she has been in a contest.

Born in Melbourne to Samoan parents, Aiava - who'd rather be known as 'Des' instead of her far catchier full name - comes from a curious background for a tennis prodigy. Her entire family, more familiar with rugby and combat sports, is learning as they go along.

They rallied around her overnight on Monday to keep her calm against Mattek-Sands, who at 31 was almost double the age of her opponent. Aiava, meanwhile, distracted herself with R&B and some well-earned comfort food.

"I just tried to stay composed and focused and not get too far ahead, just stay in the moment. [I turned to] music. And food," she said.

"I think [I can handle the growing pressure], as long as I have that small circle of people to help me stay grounded." 

It was a good day for Australia in Brisbane, with Aiava's win coming on the heels of Sam Groth, who beat Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 to book a second-round match-up with Austrian fourth-seed Dominic Thiem.

The world No.180 was only playing thanks to John Millman's dodgy hip but has high hopes for 2017 as he finally rids himself of injuries and ailments.

"[Last year] came in underdone after having foot surgery in the preseason, and, yeah, didn't really - you know, my year never really took off. I really sort of struggled with it, didn't have confidence in what I was doing after having no preseason and felt like I was underdone the whole year," Groth said.

"Coming in today, I feel like everyone had sort of written me off a little bit. But I've had a proper off season. My ranking's dropped, so there's not that expectation probably. But from the public, for myself, it still is.

"I feel confident I have done the work and it's a bit of a refresh button for me and certainly nice to get that win."