Perth teen Taylah Preston has recorded her first tour-level main-draw win at a WTA 500 tournament in America.
San Diego, USA, 28 February 2024 | Leigh Rogers
San Diego, USA
Taylah Preston is proving she is a star on the rise at a WTA 500 tournament in San Diego.
The 18-year-old from Perth scored a milestone first tour-level victory today, fighting past Poland’s Magdalena Frech 6-4 4-6 6-1 in the opening round.
Preston, a wildcard entry, took two hours and four minutes to beat world No.42 Frech, who advanced to the Australian Open fourth round last month.
This is Preston’s second career top-100 win and first against a top-50 player.
It continues an impressive run of form for Preston, who progressed to the biggest singles final of her career at a WTA 125 tournament in Mexico last week. This propelled Preston to a career-high ranking of world No.153.
Preston’s second-round opponent is world No.34 Marta Kostyuk.
Aussies in action – San Diego
RESULTS
Women’s singles, first round
[WC] Taylah Preston (AUS) d Magdalena Frech (POL) 6-4 4-6 6-1
COMING UP
Women’s singles, second round
[Q] Daria Saville (AUS) v Tatjana Maria (GER)
[WC] Taylah Preston (AUS) v [6] Marta Kostyuk (UKR)
Women’s doubles, first round
[2] Storm Hunter (AUS)/Katerina Siniakova (CZE) v Miriam Kolodziejova (CZE)/Katarzyna Piter (POL)
[3] Ellen Perez (AUS)/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) v Donna Vekic (CRO)/Zhu Lin (CHN)
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Chris O’Connell has charged into the second round at an ATP 500 tournament in Dubai.
The 29-year-old Australian did not face a break point in his 6-2 6-4 dismissal of German qualifier Maximilian Marterer in the opening round.
World No.68 O’Connell conceded only 10 points in total across his service games in the 76-minute encounter.
This sets up a second-round showdown with world No.8 Hubert Hurkacz.
In doubles action, Matt Ebden scored his first win as world No.1.
The 36-year-old Australian teamed with India’s Rohan Bopanna to scrap past Tunisian Skander Mansouri and Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi 7-6(4) 7-6(5) in the opening round.
> READ: Ebden reflects on rise to world No.1 – “It’s a little bit surreal”
Aussies in action – Dubai
RESULTS
Men’s singles, first round
Chris O’Connell (AUS) d [Q] Maximilian Marterer (GER) 6-2 6-4
Men’s doubles, first round
[1] Matt Ebden (AUS)/Rohan Bopanna (IND) d [WC] Skander Mansouri (TUN)/Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) 7-6(4) 7-6(5)
[2] Ivan Dodig…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Tennis.com.au – Tennis Australia…