He is a little-known Australian who now has the tennis world talking, with the power to go toe-to-toe with the biggest hitters in the game.
Talia Gibson became the youngest player in seven years to reach the quarter-finals in her first appearance at one of the rarest tournaments – known as the WTA 1000s – last month, as part of an eye-catching display where she beat five players ranked 20th.
Although his coaches have spent years reminding him of his great potential, the shy 21-year-old admits he is beginning to believe.
“The thing I thought about the most was how much faith I should have had in myself,” he says, speaking from his hometown of Perth ahead of Friday’s Billie Jean King Cup Melbourne match against Great Britain.
In Indian Wells at the beginning of March, she won in style, and scored victories against Ekaterina Alexandrova (ranked 11), Clara Tauson (17) and Jasmine Paolini (7) before losing against world No. 14 Linda Noskova in three sets.
Gibson immediately proved that run was no fluke, the following week in Miami. She also won in the qualifiers, beating 15th-ranked Naomi Osaka and world No. 17 Iva Jovic before losing to Australian Open champion and world No. 2 Elena Rybakina in the round of 16.
Although Gibson did not win any championships, he had the attention of the tennis world. Before March, the WTA website had not uploaded her photo. Now, he’s about to turn 50. “It kind of took me a while to get that win,” Gibson says. That made me realize that I have potential.
He says: “Since I was able to see that happen, it opened my eyes. “I thought, before it happened, I’ll ‘believe it when I see it’, and I think maybe that’s one thing, in hindsight, that I could have done better.
Incidentally, she is Australia’s second-highest ranked player (after newcomer Maya Joint at 19), even if Gibson has been well-known in the local tennis scene for years. At the age of 15 she was awarded the young athlete of the year award at the 2019 Australian Tennis Awards. Three years later, at the age of 18, she won it again.
But in a sport where the world’s top 10 are often young, like today’s formidable young players Victoria Mboko and Mirra Andreeva, Gibson was no runner. Indeed, there has been more media attention on Emerson Jones, the 17-year-old who is also in Australia’s squad for this week’s Billie Jean King Cup.
That was, until last month. Gibson’s run at Indian Wells was described by Sports Illustrated as “a week to remember”. When he arrived in Miami, a spokesperson for the Tennis Channel described Gibson as an “unstoppable train”, and a player with top 10 potential.
Tumaini Carayol, tennis writer for the UK Guardian, was in the US and saw the Australian run for the first time. “Gibson has been under the radar for a while, even after winning various titles on the ITF circuit, but by beating five top 20 opponents in two of the biggest tournaments on the circuit, he has made his progress undeniable,” he says. “There will be a lot more eyes on him now.”
Gibson begins to understand that enlightenment is part of the life of a professional artist. He says: “It’s a big step that no one knows who you are. When you start having success like that, there are a lot of people who want to get your opinion on it all.
Fortunately, he feels he has the support to succeed even though he was surprised by its weak tone. He says: “I was a little surprised to see how many people are keeping track of how I am living and how successful I am.
Gibson describes herself as an “ordinary woman” from Perth, who likes to go to the beach and hang out with friends. But unlike most of us, he spends most of his time on the tennis tour with incredible physical and mental demands, where every moment is captured and analysed.
“I’m a shy, quiet person,” says Gibson. “So I think when it comes to doing things like interviews and meeting new people and doing media, and the things you talk to people about — you know, the public and everything — it forces me to step out of my comfort zone.”
On the court, he looks more comfortable. This year he has won more than three out of every four service games, a ratio that is in the top 20 in the world despite his challenging opposition. The comeback is underway, but the introduction he made against Paolini in Indian Wells for the biggest win of his career underscored his growing reputation as one of the tour’s gunslingers.
“A lot of people would say he’s probably one of the most aggressive players, and I wouldn’t disagree with that. But I hope one day, they’ll be able to add a few more adjectives to it,” he says.
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