What a moment! The Queensland local, Kimberly Birrell comes up with a pleasant surprise for all the Aussie tennis fans at the Brisbane International. She recently clinched the biggest win of her career by defeating the world number 8, Emma Navarro (USA) in the first round (R32) by 7-5,7-5. This is in fact her first back-to-back wins at a WTA 500 event and guess what? It’s also her second-ever top 10 win. her previous one came against Daria Kasatkina back in 2018. Who’s Kimberly Birrell? Let’s take a glimpse at her astonishing rise in the bigger stages of the game.
Kimberly Birrell was born on 29 April 1998. Interestingly, her father John was working as a tennis coach in Germany at the time of her birth. Later on, the family settled on the Gold Coast, Queensland when Kimberly Birrell was three years of age as her father took up a role as the head coach of Pat Cash’s Tennis Academy. Birrell also has a brother, named Cade who is also a tennis player. Kimberly Birrell started playing tennis at the age of just four. She switched to training bases at the Queen Part Tennis Center in 2008 when her father began managing the club. It’s the same club that has produced the likes of Samantha Stosur and Bernard Tomic.
Birrell began playing on the ITF Junior Circuit U18 events at the age of just 13. After that, she won her first junior final in 2012 in Sydney. She competed in her first professional event at the Bendigo Tennis Centre in October 2012 at the age of just 14. Then a year later, she made her junior Grand Slam debut at the 2013 AO.
The 26-year-old, Kimberly Birrell is currently ranked 113 in the world, and guess what? She’s yet to win a title in her career! Is her straight set triumph over the American superstar, Emma Navarro an indication of her immense potential?