West Australian tennis player Talia Gibson has cracked the WTA top 100 for the first time after impressive victories at Indian Wells. The 21-year-old defeated 11th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in straight sets in the second round, then overcame Denmark's Clara Tauson, who fired 28 aces, to reach the third round. Gibson entered the tournament through qualifiers.
These wins, her first career top-20 scalps, have lifted Gibson to 85th in the live world rankings. She joins fellow Australian Maya Joint as the second Australian woman to break into the top 100 in the past year. Gibson said entering the top 100 was a long-time goal and that achieving it so early in the year felt amazing.
Gibson credited her recent form to hard work on consistency and variety in her game. She started the year strongly at the Australian Open, defeating world No. 62 Anna Blinkova 6-1, 6-3 in the first round, and reached the women's doubles quarterfinals with Kimberly Birrell.
The young gun also praised the depth of rising Australian talent, saying the supportive environment and competition among players have helped her improve. Gibson will next face seventh seed Jasmine Paolini for a spot in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
