Kimberly Birrell will turn her attention to the Australian Open after her career-best campaign in Brisbane ended in the quarter-finals.
Brisbane, Australia, January 3, 2025 | AAP
Kimberly Birrell is determined to put on the best performance of her career to qualify for the Australian Open after a bitter run to the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International.
Australia’s new No. 1 female player was able to smile despite the close call on Friday. Anhelina Kalinina saved a match point to advance to the semi-finals with a 4-6 6-1 7-5 win over Birrell.
The Gold Coast talent has soared to a career-high 99th in the live rankings after beating world No. 8 Emma Navarro and No. 35 Anastasia Potapova to advance to the quarter-finals.
She again played fearlessly at Pat Rafter Arena, a vicious cross-court forehand just missing at 30-30 to give Kalinina match point.
> Earn points, win glory: AO 1-point slam fully open
The ice-cold Ukrainian then hit a series of aces to put an end to the Burrell resistance that had captured the attention of the home crowd all week.
Her enjoyable game was cut short by an elbow injury five years ago that took almost three years off her career, and Birrell, now 26, has fallen out of the world’s top 800, forcing her to rethink her tennis future.
“I’m very, very proud of the way I played and supported myself,” she said.
“No matter who the opponent was, I believed in my abilities and the hard work I put in in the offseason.
“I knew my level was there. Now that we’ve actually proven it, I think there are so many positives.”
Birrell, who was not among the wildcard recipients for the 2025 edition outside the pre-tournament top 100 cutoff, will head to Melbourne needing to regroup and qualify for the Australian Open main draw.
“I will definitely continue to run my best this week and achieve that in Melbourne as well. “It should be fun,” he said.
“You have to actually prove on the pitch that you can do it.
“I plan to use it until next week. All eyes are on AO.”
Birrell took a rare chance to help Kalinina clinch the first set before the Ukraine came back into the contest with a one-sided second.
One step closer to the semifinals💪 @kimbirrell98 Kalinina’s first set is 6-4! pic.twitter.com/bGGtZ8Kc9e
— Brisbane International (@BrisbaneTennis) January 3, 2025
Two tough serves were put on hold to start the decider from Birrell and Kalinina put on serious pressure at 5-4 to stay in the match.
Birrell’s flat groundstrokes earned her match point, but Kalinina did not wilt and instead found her way to 5-5 before flipping the script to end the Birrell fairytale.
Kalinina will face American bolter Ashlyn Krueger or tournament qualifier Polina Kudermetova for a spot in the finals.
Injury ends Jordan Thompson’s campaign
Meanwhile, Jordan Thompson was forced to retire due to injury during his match against Grigor Dimitrov in the Brisbane International quarter-finals.
The world number 26, who will be seeded for the first time at an Australian Open Slam, lost 6-1 2-1 to the defending champion after pulling out a pin citing foot pain after undergoing treatment on her right calf.
Thompson had the best year of his career in 2024 and started this week in similar fashion, reaching the quarter-finals again in Brisbane with wins over Matteo Berrettini and Alex Michelsen.
Find out how to play: visit play.tennis.com.au Go to the court and have fun!
