Young Australian Taylah Preston reached her first high-profile quarter-final after beating Rebecca Šramková in straight sets at Hobart International.
The 20-year-old world number 204, who also has a wildcard at the upcoming Australian Open, finished strongly to beat the Slovakian number 72 6-4, 6-1 on Wednesday.
She lost the first game of the second set in the second round match before winning six in a row.
“I think I handled myself very well in that situation. I just tried to stay relaxed and trust what I was doing.”
» said Preston.
“That’s something my coach and I talked about, playing without fear.
“With the way I’m playing, I’ll probably miss a few shots, but keep going, commit and trust what I’m doing.”
Preston, from Western Australia, scored the biggest victory of her career in terms of rankings in the first round, representing fifth seed Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro.
She reached a career-high 134 in 2024, but fell outside the top 200 before this season.
“I’ve had a bit of a tough last 12 months,” she said.
“So being able to get my confidence back and knowing that I can compete and win at this level is a huge… booster and hopefully sets me up for the rest of the year.”
Preston will face either Grand Slam champion and top seed Emma Raducanu or Polish world number 72 Magdalena Frech for a place in the semi-finals.
“It would be a really cool experience for me to test myself (against Raducanu). She won a grand slam and is obviously a very, very good player,” she said.
Last year in Hobart, Australia’s top-ranked woman, Maya Joint, sparked a breakout season by advancing to the semi-finals outside the top 100.
Raducanu, who won the 2021 US Open in qualifying, advanced to the second round on Wednesday by finishing a rain-delayed match against Maria Camila Osorio Serrano.
The Briton came back in the second set for a 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) victory.
Raducanu and Frech will play their second round match on Thursday, with the winner expected to return for the quarter-final against Preston later today.
PAA
