The victory added to a scintillating start to 2025 for the 26-year-old, who defeated world No.8 Emma Navarro on Wednesday for her first top-10 win since she downed then-No.10 Daria Kasatkina at the 2019 Brisbane International.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"I\u2019m so totally speechless. To play here is so special and to play well and have all of you guys behind me, it just means the world and I hope that I can keep going and make you guys proud,\" Birrell said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cIt has been a long road. I have had a few injuries but, you know, as does everyone who plays professional sport, and everyone has their trials and tribulations in life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been super lucky to just have such an incredible family and team behind me, and they believed in me when I didn\u2019t even think I was going to get back on court. They encouraged me, and they\u2019re pretty much the only reason why I\u2019m back playing at this level today,\" Birrell added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Birrell has a chance to build on her Brisbane run when she faces either Anhelina Kalinina or Yuan Yue on Friday, both of whom are unseeded players.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been super lucky to just have such an incredible family and team behind me, and they believed in me when I didn\u2019t even think I was going to get back on court. They encouraged me, and they\u2019re pretty much the only reason why I\u2019m back playing at this level today,\" Birrell added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Also Read: <\/b> Highest tax paying cricketers<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n