Rising star Talia Gibson has broken through for her maiden win at a grand slam to be the first local through to the Australian Open second round in Melbourne.
The 20-year-old wildcard responded to the vocal home support to upset Turkey’s higher-ranked Zeynep Sonmez 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 on Court 3 on Monday.
Shooting for the lines, Gibson opened up after scraping through the second-set tiebreaker and was rewarded for her courage with the most significant win of her fledgling career.
The world No.150 will pocket a minimum $200,000 for setting up a second-round shot at Spanish 11th seed Paula Badosa on Wednesday.
The young gun has already fared better than compatriots Daria Saville, Adam Walton, Omar Jasika and Li Tu, who were all first-day casualties at Melbourne Park.
“I’m over the moon, honestly,” Gibson told Nine after the match.
“It feels absolutely amazing, especially to get my first win at a home slam here in front of so many people on such an amazing court.
“I’m just lost for words – really, really, really happy.”
Gibson was among a dozen Australians scheduled for day-two action.
She was soon joined in the second round by countrywoman Ajla Tomljanovic, who eventually overcame American Ashlyn Krueger in three sets that featured a whopping 13 breaks of serve.
World No.27 Jordan Thompson plays German Dominik Koepfer in his first grand slam appearance as a seed after enjoying a breakout 2024 season.
Nick Kyrgios makes his long-awaited grand slam comeback against Brit Jacob Fearnley in one of the feature night matches on Monday.
Kyrgios’s doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis, along with Chris O’Connell, James Duckworth, James McCabe, Tristan Schoolkate, Aleksandar Vukic, Maya Joint and Destanee Aiava also open their campaigns.
Newshttps://https://ift.tt/DW4Xe2f wildcard claims maiden grand slam win, eye-watering prize after first round triumph
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