West Australian young gun Taylah Pretson’s surge towards the top 100 has continued after she beat Maddison Inglis in a rare, all-WA WTA final.
20 year-old Preston’s rise up the ranks continued as she beat Inglis 7-6(5) 6-3 to secure her maiden WTA 125 singles crown at the Odlum Brown Vancouver Open and push her to the brink of the top 100.
Preston’s win will move her to an estimated 105th in the world as she appears on the cusp of joining another West Aussie in the midst of a breakout season — world No.72 Talia Gibson — into the top 100.
Inglis, who downed the tournament’s No.1 seed and former world No.47 Moyuka Uchijima en route to the final, broke in the second game of the match, before Preston fought back to hold a 5-3 lead.
The veteran Inglis held her nerve and forced another break at 5-4 down, only for Preston to outlast her in a tight tie-break.
Inglis again broke early in the second set, but once again fought back and secured an important double break before she served out the match to claim the honours in 88 minutes.
Preston, who dropped just one set all tournament, said she was delighted to win and said it was particularly meaningful given the pair’s Perth ties.
“I always knew it was going to be a tricky match. Maddison has been playing unbelievable this year and especially throughout this week, so I knew it was going to be tough and I was going to have to be ready to play,” she said.
“One of the best parts about playing is that we get to inspire so many young girls, just like players like Maddison did for me, especially both being from Perth.”
Inglis is projected to rise to around 112th in the world, up from 128, following her performance in Vancouver.
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