Aussie teen Taylah Preston wins first professional singles title
Taylah Preston, a 17-year-old from Perth, is among the standout Australian performers this week.
Monastir, Tunisia, 28 May 2023 | Leigh Rogers
All eyes are on Roland Garros, as the second Grand Slam tournament of the season gets underway.
Storm Hunter has been a standout performer so far, winning four consecutive matches to become the first Australian woman to reach the second round in Paris as a qualifier in 13 years.
Thanasi Kokkinakis and Jason Kubler have also made winning starts to their Roland Garros campaigns.
> READ: Kubler triumphs in five-set battle at Roland Garros
They aren’t the only Australian players recording impressive results on the world stage though.
The most outstanding performers of the week include:
Chris O’Connell: Reached his third ATP-level singles quarterfinal of the clay-court season in Geneva (Switzerland). This moves the 28-year-old to a career-high ranking of world No.77.
Olivia Tjandramulia: The 26-year-old advanced to the doubles quarterfinals at a WTA 250 tournament in Strasbourg (France). This propels Tjandramulia to a new career-high ranking of world No.102.
Kimberly Birrell: The 25-year-old scored her first WTA-level main-draw win on clay, reaching the second round at the WTA 250 tournament in Strasbourg.
Jason Taylor: The 29-year-old, partnering Sweden’s Filip Bergevi, made the doubles semifinals at an ATP Challenger tournament in Skopje (North Macedonia).
Seone Mendez: The 24-year-old advanced to her first singles final of the season at an ITF 40 tournament in Otocec (Slovenia). Mendez finished runner-up to Slovak Rebecca Sramkova.
Taylah Preston: The 17-year-old won her first professional singles title at an ITF 25 tournament in Monastir (Tunisia). Preston recorded seven consecutive wins to earn her title breakthrough as a qualifier. This improves her season record to 22 wins from 28 matches.
Talia Gibson: The 18-year-old was a doubles finalist, alongside Japan’s Akari Inoue, at an ITF 25 grass-court tournament in Karuizawa (Japan). It was Gibson’s second doubles final in as many weeks.
Brandon Walkin: The 28-year-old won his 15th career doubles title – and second this year – at an ITF 15 tournament in Brcko (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Walkin and American partner George Goldhoff scooped the title without dropping a set.
Hugh Winter: The 16-year-old won the biggest singles title of his junior career at an ITF J100 tournament in Lousada (Portugal). It was Winter’s third singles final of the season.
Tahlia Kokkinis: The 14-year-old advanced to the girls’ singles semifinals at an ITF J100 tournament in Lousada (Portugal).
> RANKING MOVERS: O’Connell climbs to new career-high
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