If the tennis world wasn’t familiar with Taylah Preston’s game, it certainly is now.
The 20-year-old Australian’s barnstorming semifinal run at the Hobart International last week comprised three wins over top-100 players, including a breakthrough straight-sets victory over former US Open champion Emma Raducanu.
“It was a really good week. And I think it sets me up well,” Preston told tennis.com.au ahead of her second Australian Open main-draw singles berth this week.
“Definitely a bit of a confidence boost,” she beamed.
The Perth native’s aggressive, clean-hitting style was on full display in what was a dominant 6-2 6-4 victory over the world No.29 Brit, delighting Aussie fans packed into Hobart’s centre court.
The fast-rising star also didn’t drop a set in statement triumphs over fifth seed Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and world No.72 Rebecca Sramkova.
Despite notching some of the biggest wins of her burgeoning career, the understated Preston is firmly focused on her first-round match at Melbourne Park against former singles world No.22 Shuai Zhang.
“I'm feeling good. I actually played her not too long ago, at the Brisbane International. I lost in three sets there, so hopefully I can turn that around,” she said.
“I think it'll be a really good match and I'm super excited.”
Preston earned an AO 2026 wildcard after a swashbuckling finish to last year, winning 31 of her 37 matches from September until the end of her season.
This included lifting three Australian Pro Tour singles titles, in Brisbane, Darwin and Wagga Wagga.
“It means a lot to me that everyone has a lot of belief in me,” she said, on receiving the coveted wildcard. “I just hope I can make the best of the opportunity.”
Her sensational run came off the back of a difficult first-half of the year. This included falling in the early rounds of qualifying at Melbourne Park, Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
“I was struggling a bit…results wise. It just wasn’t really clicking into place,” she recalled.
“I felt like I just needed to drop back a few levels, you know, playing those ones in Australia and just to get a few matches up my belt.”
Preston hasn’t progressed past the first round of main-draw singles at a Grand Slam, having succumbed to Elina Svitolina and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Melbourne and New York respectively in 2024.
But few observers would believe that statistic will be around much longer.
The talented youngster is among ten Australian women competing in the AO first round – a tally not bested since 2000 – and she delights in being part of the supportive group.
“It’s a great group of girls to be a part of,” she exclaimed.
“We all want each other to do really well [and] we always support each other. If someone has a good result, we're always sending messages [of support].
“It’s also nice – when we're traveling internationally a lot of the year – to be able to have some girls around that kind of makes it feel a little bit more like home.”
[WC] Taylah Preston (AUS) v Zhang Shuai (CHN), Tuesday 20 January