Melbourne, Australia, 13 January 2025 | Jackson Mansell

Destanee Aiava has pulled off arguably the wildest comeback of her career against Belgian Greet Minnen to secure her maiden major triumph.

The world No.195 saved two match points in the final set to notch her first Australian Open victory in five attempts. In a battle that lasted exactly three hours, Aiava claimed proceedings 5-7 7-5 7-6[10-5] in front of a packed Court 3.

“I’m just super happy to get through and finally win a first-round [match] of singles at a Grand Slam, especially at my home Slam as well,” she said. “It was really nice and special and the crowd got me through.”

DESTANEE FULFILLED AT #AO2025

Aiava fights back from the brink to score her first AO main draw victory! @wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis • #AusOpen • #AO2025 pic.twitter.com/RZbtWLTNMR

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 13, 2025

Aiava’s victory makes her one of nine Australians to prevail on a mammoth Day 2.

“I felt like I wasn’t playing my best,” she said reflecting on the first half of the match. “I was getting a bit negative in the first set. She had a lot of momentum and I just told myself, if I have to say ‘come on’ every single point that I win, then I’m gonna do that and I need to do whatever it takes to come back.

“I just heard the crowd get louder so I tried to use that to my advantage.”

> READ: Talia Gibson records first Grand Slam triumph

A break of serve was hard to come by in the opening set as both players defended their serve solidly. Three consecutive unforced errors from Aiava in the 12th game however saw Minnen break to love and gain the first set 7-5.

> READ: Ajla Tomljanovic secures emphatic win at Melbourne Park  

Minnen cruised to an early 5-2 lead in the second set, but Aiava would not surrender. The Victorian secured her first break of the match while the world No.91 was serving for the match at 5-3.

Down 0-30 at 5-4 in the second set, a running forehand winner down the line from Aiava sharply shifted the momentum. Five consecutive game wins from 5-2 down levelled the match.

The Belgian brought up two match points on Aiava’s serve at 5-4, in the final set, although Aiava continued to attack, managing to hold serve.

Aiava ultimately won the encounter convincingly in the tiebreak to advance to the second round, where she will play 10th seed Danielle Collins.

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