While plenty of attention is rightly given to our AFL stars and other major sporting achievements, something pretty significant has happened in Western Australian tennis with barely a ripple in the local mainstream media.
Perth’s Talia Gibson became Australia’s No.1-ranked female tennis player.
Think about that for a moment.
A young woman developed here in WA climbed above every other Australian woman on the international rankings — becoming the first West Australian woman since Casey Dellacqua in 2008 to hold the mantle as Australia’s highest-ranked female player.
That’s a significant achievement for Gibson, but it is also a significant achievement for WA tennis.
And there is another story developing that deserves far more attention.
TWO WEST AUSTRALIAN WOMEN WILL BE IN THE MAIN DRAW OF THE US OPEN WHEN IT BEGINS IN NEW YORK THIS SUNDAY.
Talia Gibson – direct entry
Taylah Preston – wildcard
Two young women from Perth competing on one of the biggest stages in world sport at Flushing Meadows.
Preston has also just broken into the world’s top 100 for the first time, another outstanding milestone for the 20-year-old West Australian.
For all the discussion about the state of Australian tennis, there is clearly something exciting happening with the next generation of WA women’s tennis.
The question is: why aren’t we hearing more about it?
If two young Western Australians were achieving this level of success in many other sports, you would expect considerable local media coverage.
Gibson and Preston deserve recognition.
Their families and coaches deserve recognition.
And young WA tennis players deserve to see that there is a pathway from the courts of Perth to Wimbledon, Roland Garros and now the US Open.
Congratulations Talia Gibson and Taylah Preston.
Court Talk will certainly be watching closely when the US Open gets underway this Sunday.
WA tennis should be enormously proud.
#CourtTalk #TaliaGibson #TaylahPreston #USOpen #WATennis #PerthTennis #AustralianTennis #WesternAustralia
