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Eight months ago, Jule Niemeier was ranked outside the top 100 and had never played in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament.
Now, the 23-year-old German has twice reached the second week of a major, is rocketing up the rankings, and is building a growing legion of fans attracted to her creatively forceful brand of tennis.
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Previewing the United Cup for The AO Show podcast, British commentator and former pro Sam Smith sang Niemeier’s praises.
“I feel [she] is one of the most talented players holding a racquet on the women's tour at the moment; she reminds me a lot of Ash Barty,” Smith said.
“So I think Aussie fans will be very excited to see the sort of skills that she brings to the court.”
Niemeier will arrive at the Australian Open as the world No.68, and although she has only three major main-draw appearances under her belt, she has rapidly accrued big-match experience.
Her run to the Wimbledon quarterfinals included a 6-4 6-0 upset of second seed Anett Kontaveit, and several appearances on the tournament’s stadium courts along the way.
And she went deep again at her next Slam, in New York, beating impressive opponents Sofia Kenin, Yulia Puntintseva and Zheng Qinwen – without losing a set – to reach the US Open fourth round.
There, she led world No.1 and eventual champion Iga Swiatek by a set and a break before the Polish star escaped.
“For sure I'm pretty happy that I didn't give up, just tried to find some solutions in second and third set,” Swiatek reflected.
“I think the match was pretty physical.”
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Indeed, this is the challenge Niemeier poses to opponents, thanks to her impressive serve and heavy forehand, plus increasing experience against the world’s top players.
“I'm trying to be creative on court,” Niemeier explained.
“I can play fast, I can play slower, use the slice, dropshots. That's what I'm trying to do, just mix it up a bit on court so the opponent doesn't know what is coming.
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“In the first couple of matches against top players, I was hesitating a bit. I thought I have to play something special. If you play those players, you just have to stay there. You have to stay consistent, just focus on every point.
“That's what I'm trying to do now, to just really use the experience and, yeah, just go there.
“Of course, I'm showing respect, but I'm just trying to win every match.”
Smith described Niemeier’s run to the last eight at Wimbledon as coming “out of nowhere”.
While this was true when considering the young German’s lack of results on the Grand Slam stage, she had shown signs of her progress on the regular tour.
She qualified for WTA events in St Petersburg and Monterrey to close in on the top 100, then won an ITF 60K tournament in Zagreb to enter that bracket.
In early June, she won her biggest career title – so far – at the WTA 125K tournament in Makarska.
And in the weeks leading into Wimbledon, she pushed top-20 stars Belinda Bencic and Daria Kasatkina to three sets on grass in Berlin and Bad Homburg respectively.
Just as she extended Swiatek to the limit in New York, Niemeier came incredibly close to advancing to the Wimbledon semis, eventually losing to countrywoman Tatjana Maria 7-5 in the third set.
“At the end we had an amazing match,” said Maria, who trailed 4-2 in the final set.
“I guess it was great to watch this match. it was amazing how at the end, you know, we shaked hand, gave each other a hug, and she was reacting amazing.”
After the US Open, Niemeier continued building.
She qualified for the WTA event in Parma, reached the WTA quarterfinals in Cluj-Napoca, and set a career-high ranking of No.61 in November.
A win for Germany in the Billie Jean King Cup Play-offs earned her a 40th match win of 2022, and by season’s end, she had more than halved her ranking.
Should her trajectory continue, don’t be surprised by another resounding result, this time at Melbourne Park.