Talia Gibson moves through to Australian Open second round

When speaking to Talia Gibson, it is hard not to notice the split personality she assumes as a tennis professional.

The 21-year-old possesses a friendly and softly spoken nature away from the court, which is why she is a popular member of the Australian contingent on the WTA Tour.

But Gibson's polite manner belies her ruthless on-court persona, as she illustrated at the Australian Open on Sunday.

A wildcard in the women's singles draw, the West Australian showed no mercy for her higher-ranked Russian opponent, Anna Blinkova, in the first round.

She hit 43 winners and broke Blinkova's serve five times on her way to completing a convincing 6-1, 6-3 win in an hour and 16 minutes at Melbourne Park.

"I know that I'm a very aggressive player. It's what I do best on the court," Gibson told reporters.

"No matter what, no matter who I play, I'm always trying to play that way for sure."

Gibson's aggression is among the reasons she was on the cusp of breaking into the top 100 on the WTA rankings last year.

She reached a career-high 105 in August during a season in which she contested three of the four majors.

Wildcards gained her entry into the Australian and US Opens, but her run through three rounds of qualifying to reach the Wimbledon main draw typified the toughness of her game.

Gibson was on the verge of elimination when she faced a match point in the third set of her final qualifying match against Argentine Solana Sierra.

She survived, however, winning four consecutive games to triumph 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

Gibson could not get past Naomi Osaka in Wimbledon's opening round, but she gained much from her 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) defeat to the former world number one.

It added to the lessons she took away from her entire 2025 campaign and helped her feel she belonged on the tour.

"I think the experiences that I've had over the last 12 months, I've been able to learn so much and grow mentally as well as physically," Gibson said.

"I find myself often being able to look back on those experiences that I've had and being able to tap into what I learnt on some of those days and use that in my current matches."

Gibson cites Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina among the players she enjoys watching but is adamant she is not trying to copy the star duo.

Instead, she is determined to forge her own approach as she looks to climb higher than her world ranking of 119.

"I often find myself watching those girls play and try and learn from what they are doing," Gibson said.

"But at the same time, I'm not trying to model my game to look like anybody else's.

"I have my own game and I'm just trying to develop that in my own way."

Gibson will play either two-time major winner Barbora Krejčíková or 23rd seed Diana Shnaider in the second round.

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