Taylah Preston fires to take Australian into Billie Jean King Cup finals

With Australia sitting 2-0 up, after dominating the opening day, captain Sam Stosur called in the 18-year-old from Western Australia to replace Arina Rodionova.

“Being able to wear the green and gold was extremely special for me,” Preston said.

“Hopefully it’s not the last time I get to wear it.”

Preston has been in top form climbing to 136 on the WTA rankings after an impressive 2023.

It was the teen’s first time representing Australia at the tournament and she said she had felt just “a little bit nervous” walking onto the court in Brisbane.

“When I was walking onto the court my stomach started doing weird things,” Preston said.

She said it was a different type of nerves to what she usually experienced before a big match.

“I’m playing for something bigger than just myself, I’m playing for my team and my country - obviously I don’t want to let the team down,“ Preston said.

“The girls were all super dooper supportive and it was really comforting.”

The nerves were evident in the opening game with Preston dropping her serve.

“After a couple of games, I had loosened up a little bit and then just thought, okay, just focus on the court, don’t try and look around too much and see everyone in the stands.

“So I just tried to focus on my own things.”

A series of uncharacteristic double faults from Zacarias opened the door for Preston to level the scores - and she didn’t let up.

Preston was up 4-1 when the match took a dramatic turn with Zacarias landing on her ankle badly and falling to the ground in agony.

After some on court treatment she was able to walk off the court and took a medical time out.

After being put through a series of court side assessments by the doctor Zacarias bravely returned to play with a heavily strapped ankle.

But it was clear she wasn’t able to move as freely as she had been.

Preston said it was never fun playing against an injured opponent but she just tried to focus on her game.

“It’s not easy when you know the person on the other end isn’t at their best… but I just have to focus on what I’m doing on my side,” Preston said.

“I know that sounds a little harsh but the reality is we are playing a match.

“It’s not easy because I think what if I hit it there and then she gets injured more - obviously I don’t want to do that. But at the same time we’re playing a match for our country.”

Preston handled the situation well and closed out the first set 6-1.

Zacarias,clearly playing in pain, tried to stage a comeback in the second set but her injured ankle made it difficult to counter Preston’s fierce forehand.

Preston didn’t squander her chances, closing out the second set 6-1 to win the match in just over an hour and locking the Aussies into the finals in Seville in November.

The teen has set herself some tough tasks between now and the finals - with the ultimate goal being to crack into the top 100 rankings.

“Obviously as I start playing high level tournaments and high level ranked opponents everything is going to become a little bit tougher but I’m ready to embrace those new challenges,” Preston said.

More Coverage

Diamonds skipper at ease ahead of new club debut

Emma Greenwood

Kyah Simon’s long and painful road back to A-League finals

Erin Smith

“Everything at the moment is really new to me, so it’s very cool and very fun. We are just taking it one step at a time right now. I’d like to push into the top 130 or top 120 - just smaller steps as we go.

“Obviously it would be great to crack the top 100 but I’m not looking that far ahead.”

Australia closed out the tie 4-0 with Daria Saville and Ellen Perez winning the doubles match against Jessica Hinojosa Gomez and María Navarro in straight sets 6-3, 5-1.