22 December 2025 | Tennis West

Four more Australian Open 2026 wildcards have been announced, with West Aussies Talia Gibson and Taylah Preston to play in the main draw at Melbourne Park in January.

It boosts the number of Australians in the singles main draws to 16 – eight in the men’s, and eight in the women’s.

Another fast-finishing player in 2025 was Preston, who since the beginning of September won 31 of her last 37 matches.

In that same span she improved her ranking from No.259 to No.199 after collecting three Australian Pro Tour singles titles – in Wagga Wagga, Dawin and Brisbane – from four finals appearances.

The 20-year-old, a former top-10 junior, will be making the third Grand Slam main-draw appearance after competing at the Australian and US Opens in 2024.

“I’m extremely grateful and excited for the opportunity to play main draw in Melbourne again,” Preston said. “It means so much and I can’t wait to get out there and compete.”

Gibson, meanwhile, enjoyed a late-season high when she was selected in the Australian Billie Jean King Cup team for the first time, as part of Australia’s Play-off campaign in Hobart.

The following week, she travelled to Sydney and won the Australian Pro Tour title there, one of three ITF titles she won in 2025 at W50 level or above.

The West Australian also won her first Grand Slam main-draw match at AO 2025, qualified for Wimbledon, reached the second round of the WTA Cleveland tournament, and scored several impressive results at WTA 125 level.

“I’m extremely thrilled to receive a main draw wildcard into the Australian Open and am very grateful to Tennis Australia for giving me this wonderful opportunity,” said Gibson, who peaked at world No.105 in August.

“I had the best experience winning my first main-draw match at AO at the start of this year so I can’t wait to experience the home crowd’s amazing atmosphere again in January.”