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Kimberly Birrell enters the interrogation country connected Friday (October 31, 2025), smiling with her eyes glowing. There is nary pretense successful her answers; her replies are not specified one-liners, but much explanatory.
Ranked 117 successful the world, the 27-year-old Australian, seeded seven, successful the ongoing WTA 250 Chennai Open tennis tourney has been playing rock-solid tennis frankincense far.
After 2 pugnacious matches against Nikola Bartunkova of Czechia and India’s Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, Kimberly breezed past Croatia’s 3rd effect Donna Vekic successful consecutive sets beauteous comfortably to participate the semifinals.
However, things were not the aforesaid a fewer years backmost for Birrell. She had 2 surgeries connected her close elbow from 2019 and 2022 that enactment her retired of the athletics for a while. “It was a hellish period, and I surely don’t person fond memories of that time. There was besides a clip erstwhile I thought I whitethorn not marque it back, that tennis wasn’t going to beryllium my way and my vocation whitethorn beryllium over, Birrell told itftennis.com
Between July 2019 and January 2022, she played conscionable 4 tournaments and won 2 matches. More than the carnal symptom it was the clip distant from the courts that made her sad.
It’s each a blur now. In the superior metropolis of Tamil Nadu astatine the SDAT-Nungambakkam Stadium here, Birrell is astatine her best, serving truly well, moving confidently and employing her shots, particularly the two-handed backhand strokes, to devasting effect.
Against the 3rd effect Vekic, Birrell was exceptional successful her changeable making abilities, conjuring winners from the backcourt erstwhile it demanded. It was a antithetic substance that Vekic was not astatine her best, committing acold excessively galore unforced errors than warranted, making the Australian occupation easier.
With the exit of Vekic, Birrell is the lone effect remaining successful the tournament. When asked whether the exit of seeded players is simply a origin for concern, she explained connected the contrary it shows the level of women’s tennis. “I don’t truly deliberation astir the seedings oregon the rankings excessively much. I deliberation successful women’s tennis, the level is incredibly precocious that anyone tin bushed anybody. For example, successful my 2nd circular (round of 16) against Shrivalli was tough. Her ranking was astir 400 [434], but she played truly well. You tin ne'er justice idiosyncratic based connected the fig adjacent to their name,” she said.
What has helped sail through, said the Australian, is her experience. “Obviously, what I deliberation helps maine is that I’ve been successful specified situations earlier and I’m experienced and I’ve played astatine this level for a small portion now. I deliberation that’s the main happening I’m reasoning about,” she said.
It drizzled consistently a fewer days anterior to the commencement of the Chennai Open. Matches were cancelled for the archetypal 2 days of the main gully and play began astatine 11 a.m. The archetypal circular saw rather a fewer foreigners withdrawing midway successful the tourney owed to utmost heat. Birrell said the upwind was a challenge.
“All of america were conscionable blessed that it stopped raining and that we were getting backmost connected court. Although it was precise tough. And it was a situation for definite to play. Especially, I played astatine 11 a.m. connected that day. So, it was precise hard to travel from not doing excessively overmuch the past 2 days. But that’s wherefore we trained truthful hard passim the full year. We each conscionable had to header with it successful our ain way. I’m gladsome that I was capable to get done it,” she said.
Birrell thanked her manager Nicole Pratt for improvements successful her game. “I deliberation she’s helped maine arsenic a idiosyncratic successful my tennis crippled truthful much. And I can’t convey her capable for her expertise and her support. And it’s truly awesome to enactment with a pistillate coach. And, besides idiosyncratic who played connected the WTA tour. She has truthful overmuch acquisition of her ain playing--she won the singles rubric successful 2004 (Hyderabad Open). It’s conscionable similar a communal knowing which I deliberation is hard to find. So, I consciousness precise lucky,” she said.
Birrell has travel a agelong mode from being a shot miss astatine the Pat Cash Academy successful Queensland wherever her begetter was erstwhile a coach.
On a resurgent journey, Birrell is having her champion tally successful a WTA 250 lawsuit this year--her champion was reaching the last of the Japan Open successful October 2024. There is bully crushed that she won’t halt here.
