What’s next for Australia’s great hope after emphatic debut triumph?
By Nick Wright
The next great hope of Australian tennis has taken her grandest strides on the big stage, sealing her nation’s place in the Billie Jean King Cup finals with the most destructive performance of her fledgling career.
Taylah Preston was ushered into the fold at the last minute, after team captain Sam Stosur opted to replace veteran Arina Rodionova with the 18-year-old prospect to take on Mexico’s Marcela Zacarias.
Taylah Preston’s straight-sets singles win on debut secured Australia’s BJK Cup success.Credit: AAP
Showing composure beyond her tender years on Pat Rafter Arena after conceding on serve to open the match, Preston rebounded to immediately break back and go on an absolute tear from that point - bringing up a 6-1, 6-1 win on her national debut with a clinical forehand at the net that drew tears to her eyes.
The teenager chanced her arm from deep in the court, orchestrating the win with a series of powerful winners that kissed the line and put her rival firmly on the back foot.
Leading 4-1 in the opening set, Preston needed to regain her momentum after Zacarias was forced to take a medical timeout to treat a rolled ankle suffered during a rally.
The West Australian refused to relent and continued to dominate after an eight-minute delay – immediately breaking serve yet again before clinching the set.
She never lost her aggressive mentality, attacking the net with vigour and manipulating Zacarias into committing 13 errors in the first set alone, before breaking serve yet again at 1-1 in the second.
The Mexican noticeably struggled on her wounded ankle in the second set, unable to move with any sort of freedom as her Australian counterpart went on the assault.
Preston’s triumph secured Australia’s place in the Cup finals in November, after Rodionova and Daria Saville secured victories on Friday.
“That’s sort of how I play and how I like to play, aggressively, so even though I lost that first game I was like ‘you know it’s OK, that’s just the first game, there’s still so much to go’,” Preston said.
“I really didn’t even think about it that much, getting the break, I just stuck to how I plan what I do, and I know that can get me good results.
“I was super nervous walking out, but after a couple of games I had loosened up a little bit and then just thought ‘OK, just focus on the court, don’t try and look around too much and see everyone in the stands’.
“Being able to wear the green and gold it’s extremely special for me, and hopefully it’s not my [only] time and I get to wear it many more times.”
Saturday’s emphatic victory could prove the launch pad for a breakout season for Preston, after the world No.136 was sidelined for the 2023 summer due to a back injury.
Fresh off her maiden appearance in a grand slam at this year’s Australian Open – a first round loss to 19th seed Elina Svitolina – the wunderkind is preparing to now test her abilities on the WTA tour in a bid to crack the top 100 by the end of the year.
“I have my ranking goals that I set for myself, and we try and beat those goals as much as we can,” Preston said.
“Obviously as I start playing high-level tournaments and playing high ranked opponents everything’s going to become a little bit tougher.
“But I’m ready to embrace those new challenges and everything, at the moment this is really new for me so it’s all very cool and very fun, and I’m learning a lot.
“At the moment we’re just taking it one step at a time, being top 130, top 120, sort of smaller steps as they go.
“Obviously, I would be great to be able to crack the top 100, but I’m not looking that far ahead and just taking it one step at a time.”