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Birrell, who admitted to extra nerves on Monday, fist-pumped with both hands and screamed in pure jubilation on defeating Sramkova and setting up a second-round clash with world No.3 Amanda Anisimova.
Resilience has become embedded in Birrellโs DNA, with her breakout year of 2025 โ one which ended with defeat in the final of the Chennai Open in November โ coming on the back of an injury-plagued period.
While she rose to world No.60 in May, she has since fallen back outside the top 100, but is adamant she has the firepower to make an impression in Melbourne later this month.
โI have some big goals, but Iโm going to really try not to focus on my ranking too much. I fell into that trap last year when I got to around 60 and kind of thought maybe I can get to 50 and beyond, and put a little bit too much pressure on myself,โ Birrell said.
โIโm going to try stay really clear on what Iโve been working on, and keep my goals more based on tournaments and trying to reach the second week of grand slams and trying to get a [WTA] 250 [win] if I can, and not checking my ranking every day.โ
While forced to reach the Australian Open through the qualifiers last year despite being the countryโs top-ranked woman, Birrell will now be joined by a host of compatriots who enter the grand slam on the back of career-best years.
Teenage tearaway Maya Joint, currently with the Australian United Cup team, began last year outside the worldโs top 100, and is now currently a grand slam seeding hope at No.32 having claimed a maiden pair of WTA titles.
Jones has shown the makings of a future star at just 17, while Daria Kasatkina (world No.40) and Ajla Tomljanovic (No.78) are genuine dark horses to shock some of the best at the Australian Open.
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Since Bartyโs retirement after winning the 2022 showcase, only Tomljanovic has reached a grand slamโs second week (Wimbledon and the US Open in 2022).
However, Birrell sensed that the narrative would soon be rewritten.
โI feel really excited to be part of the Aussie female contingent. I think thereโs some really great young talented players coming through โฆ itโs really cool we have that depth at the moment,โ Birrell said.
โLast year I was very proud to be the first-ranked Aussie, but I knew there were reasons why some of the girls werenโt inside the top 100 due to injury and things like that.
โItโs an individual sport, but I like to see us as a bit of a team โ especially with how much we travel throughout the year we do lean on each other.
โIโm excited to see what everyone can do.โ
In last yearโs Brisbane International, Birrell exhibited giant-killing tendencies โ knocking off former world No.8 Emma Navarro (currently No.15) and Anastasia Potapova (formerly No.21).
Those same fighting traits were on show against Sramkova, saving five break points as her first serve strength came to the fore โ serving at 80 per cent.
โIโve been working on my serve quite a bit for the past month or so. I think it started towards the end of last year, and I had a little bit of a moment where I was getting quite frustrated with my serve,โ Birrell said.
โAt this level, the margins are so small, and I felt like that was the area I really needed to improve. A lot of it is mental for me, Iโve had some elbow problems, so it was just letting go and letting my arm go, using my legs and really going for it and believing in it.โ
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