Tennis Australia Press Release, August 15, 2024
Taylah Preston and Tristan Schoolkate will make their US Open debuts after the emerging West Australian talents were awarded main draw wildcards.
Schoolkate becomes the 11th Australian man in the US Open main draw, alongside Alex de Minaur, Alexei Popyrin, Jordan Thompson, Rinky Hijikata, James Duckworth, Max Purcell, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Adam Walton, Christopher O’Connell and Aleksandar Vukic.
Preston joins countrywomen Ajla Tomljanovic and Daria Saville in the women’s singles main draw.
Preston and Schoolkate have been rewarded for breakthrough seasons, during which both have significantly improved their rankings.
Preston is one of Australia’s brightest teenage talents, rising from outside the top 200 to a peak of world No.134 in March.
The 18-year-old reached her biggest final at the WTA 125K event in Puerto Vallarta in February, before heading to San Diego and winning her first WTA main-draw match.
That win was against world No.42 Magdalena Frech, one of two top-100 wins she has notched in 2024.
The powerful ball-striker also made her Billie Jean King Cup debut for Australia in April, clinching the decisive point against Mexico.
Preston became the first teenager to make a winning Billie Jean Cup debut for Australia since Ash Barty in 2013, and by winning that tie, Australia returns to the competition finals in November.
Schoolkate, like Preston, began the season outside the top 200 – he was ranked 264th in February – before rising almost 100 places over the next five months.
The 23-year-old peaked at world No.176 in July, thanks to an impressively consistent season that has seen him reach at least the quarterfinal stage at eight ATP Challenger events.
He went all the way to the trophy in Guangzhou, China, beating fellow Aussie Adam Walton for the biggest title of his career, and his most recent Challenger quarterfinal came in Lincoln, Nebraska, as he hones his hard-court game ahead of the US Open.
Having grown up on grass and hard courts in Perth, Schoolkate’s aggressive game and attacking instincts are a natural fit for the quick hard courts of North America.
