WA’s rising tennis sensation Talia Gibson (Alfred Cove) continues to prove her position as one of the country’s most promising junior players, claiming back to back Singles titles at the J4 Brisbane and J4 Gold Coast tournaments held earlier this month.
Ranked as the number one Australian junior player for the 2004 birth year, Gibson, aged just 15, was well composed throughout both events, despite taking to the courts as one of the tournament’s youngest competitors.
At the J4 Brisbane Tournament, Gibson faced 17 year old Natasha Russell (AUS) in the Quarterfinals, digging deep for a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win against the number two seed. Advancing to the Semi-finals, Gibson dominated with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over New Zealand’s Vivian Yang.
Challenged early in the first set of the Final against 18 year old Sara Nayar (MYS), Gibson found form and fought back from a set down to claim the J4 Brisbane Singles title in three sets; 1-6, 6-4, 6-0.
Coming off the impressive win in Brisbane, Gibson hit the courts with confidence on the Gold Coast. Up against the event’s number three seed Roopa Bains (AUS) in the Quarterfinals, Gibson stayed on top with a straight sets, 7-5, 6-4 victory. A walk over in the Semifinals sent Gibson straight to the Finals where she faced the number two seed Natasha Russell. Having beaten Russell the week before in the Quarterfinals of the J4 Brisbane, Gibson cemented her dominance claiming the J4 Gold Coast Singles title with a tight three set 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-5 victory in the Final.
Gibson, who first stepped on the court at age five, has made significant progress this year, slicing her ranking in half since the beginning of the year, thereby securing a career high ITF Junior ranking of 290.
Further evidence of Gibson’s position on the Australian women’s tennis scene is evidenced by the 15 year olds AR (Australian ranking) of 59. Comparable to World Number One Ashleigh Barty, who leads the Australian rankings charge ahead of Ajla Tomljanovic (2) and WA’s Astra Sharma (3), the young gun is clearly within reach of Australia’s top performing female players.
Recognising Gibson’s ongoing success and her position as one of Australia’s leading 2004 born female players, Gibson was invited to attend a month long USA ITF tour. The tour, made possible by the Australian Fed Cup Foundation and Tennis Australia, saw seven of Australia’s top female junior player’s contest three junior ITF tournaments whilst taking up residence at the Chris Evert Academy in Boca Raton, Florida. Fellow WA junior player, Shanelle Iaconi (North Beach) also joined Gibson on the development tour.
Gibson’s charge has been evident since her win at the 2018 December Showdown where she claimed the 14/U Australian Championship Singles Titles. Subsequent success followed for Gibson at the J1 Traralgon ITF Junior International tournament in January where she finished as a competitive Quarterfinalist in the open junior event. Based on her impressive results, Gibson went on to be named in the 16/U Junior Fed Cup team which travelled to Thailand in April.
A student of the Applecross Senior High School Tennis Programme, Gibson was named the 2016, 2017 and 2018 Player of the Year alongside being awarded the prestigious Shane Smedley award for Elite Performance in 2018. Keeping good company, Gibson joins fellow WA tennis star Astra Sharma as a winner of the schoolwide award.
Boasting a junior ITF career win loss ratio of 18/8 Gibson has trained with Brixton Tennis under both Tate and John Roberts since age seven. Tate Roberts says Gibson’s success in Queensland is a fantastic result for the young gun’s determination to improve her game.
“We’ve been working together really closely on getting Talia the results that she deserves,”
“Seeing Talia come out on top in tight matches is evidence that all of the hard work is paying off,”
“Talia’s results in Queensland are fantastic and I’m incredibly proud to see her doing so well,” Roberts said.
Supportive of Gibson’s development has been her involvement in the National Academy program at the State Tennis Centre where she was invited to join the Super 10’s program as a seven year old. Advancing through the State and National programs, Gibson now trains weekly with the National Academy squad.
National Academy Manager Tom George says it’s incredibly exciting to watch Talia’s steady progress and that her success is something the whole team are incredibly proud of.
“Talia continues to prove her position as one of Australia’s top performing junior athletes,”
“She trains incredibly hard and represents herself to an impeccable standard both on and off the court,”
“We’re incredibly proud of the quality of athletes coming out of WA,” George said.
Rankings summary
18/U ITF World Junior Ranking: # 290
Australian Ranking for 2004 birth year: # 1
Australian Open Female Ranking: # 59
2018/2019 Results summary
2019 – J4 Gold Coast – Singles Winner
2019 – J4 Gold Coast – Doubles Finalist
2019 – J4 Brisbane – Winner
2019 – J4 Brisbane – Doubles Semifinalist
2019 – J1 Traralgon ITF Junior International – Singles Quarterfinalist
2018 – 14/U Australian Championships – Singles Winner
2018 – 14/U Australian Championships – Doubles Semifinalist
2018 – 14/U National Claycourt Championships – Singles Finalist
2018 – 14/U National Claycourt Championships – Doubles Semifinalist
2018 – 14/U Australian Grasscourt Championships – Singles Semifinalist
2018 – 14/U Australian Grasscourt Championships – Doubles Finalist
Representative Teams – National
2019 – Australian Junior Fed Cup team
2017 – 14/U Australian European Tour team
Representative Teams – WA
2018 – 14/U Australian Teams Championships – Winners
2017– 14/U Australian Teams Championships – Finalists
2016 – 12/U Australian Teams Championships
2015 – 12/U Australian Teams Championships
2015 – Melbourne – National Super 10’s tournament
2014 – Melbourne – National Super 10’s tournament
Representative Teams – School Sport
2019 – Slazenger Cup – Winners
2019 – Schools Hopman Cup – Winners
2018 – Slazenger Cup – Winners
2018 – Schools Hopman Cup – Winners
2017 – Herbert Edwards Cup – Winners
2017 – Schools Hopman Cup – Winners
2016 – Herbert Edwards Cup – Finalist
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