Around Beijing's grounds: Preston highlights upset-filled day, Czechs dominate

BEIJING -- One year ago, Taylah Preston was ranked No. 248 in the world and was competing in several World Tennis/ITF W35 events in her native Australia. 

One year later, she's into the third round in her WTA 1000 debut after wins over Tamara Korpatsch and No. 22 seed Diane Parry, and is ranked No. 91.

Her 7-6(4), 6-1 victory over the World No. 31 Parry marked the western Australian's second-highest ranked win of her career, previously defeating then-ranked No. 29 Emma Raducanu in Hobart nine months ago. Last week in Seoul, she upset Jelena Ostapenko to reach the quarterfinals in South Korea.

"It's been a great year," Preston said to media Friday. "I feel like I've built really nicely throughout the year. Started well in January, and it's been really fun playing new tournaments and everything else. It's nice to be in the top 100 now and hopefully I will stay in there."

Preston has gradually climbed her way through the ranks with a semifinal run at the Hobart 250, a W100 win in Japan and a 125 title in Vancouver. She also reached the second round of the US Open last month, and now into the third round in Beijing, she's bound to rise even higher.

Admittedly, Preston says it's hard to not think about the ranking as she's improved, but she feels the difficult part is done by cracking the top 100. 

"I mean, it's pretty tough not to think about it and look at the rankings and everything, but for me, it helps set a little bit of a goal and gives me something to work towards," Preston said. "I've been using it as small, more then thinking about it too much and learning it affect me.

"Getting into the top 100 is probably the toughest part because it's a big milestone for everyone, and you do think about it a lot when you're right on the edge of it."

Entering 2026, Preston said she wanted to just crack the top 120. With a couple more months to go, she's cleared that threshold easily and is solely focused on finishing the year on a strong note. The Aussie also hopes for the chance to play someone in the top 10 by the end of the year, and should she win her Sunday third-round match, a possible match with World No. 5 Mirra Andreeva could be on the horizon.

In the third round, Preston will face Ukraine's Daria Snigur, who upset Jasmine Paolini in three sets on Friday. 

Czech's go 4 for 5 on Friday

In addition to Linda Noskova's quick outing against Elena-Gabriela Ruse, compatriots Karolina Muchova, Sara Bejlek and Nikola Bartunkova all earned second-round wins on Friday.

"I'm just happy to be here, I'm happy to play," Muchova said following her 7-6(3), 6-1 win over Katie Boulter. "I didn't play many matches since Wimbledon so I just want to build towards that, play some more matches, get back into a zone and playing form. That's what's in my head."

The four-seeded players from Czechia all won their matches in straight sets as Czech players won four of their five matches Friday, with the lone exception in lucky loser Linda Fruhvirtova's defeat to Liudmila Samsonova.

Noskova, Muchova and Bejlek were all part of the championship team that captured the Billie Jean King Cup in Shenzhen last week, in addition to Marie Bouzkova and Katerina Siniakova, who have a chance to make it six Czechs in the third round. 

"I'm very happy I managed to win today," Bejlek said after her 6-3, 7-5 win over Maddison Inglis. "It's not easy to come here and never been in Asia before, so I'm very happy that I could be Shenzhen last week and have a look around."

Notable upsets around the grounds

1. Snigur defeated No. 14 seed Paolini in a comeback 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2 win, earning her third top 20 win of the season.
2. Qualifier Polina Kudermetova, ranked outside the top 100, ousted No. 32 seed Clara Tauson in a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win. 
3. Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska cruised past World No. 21 Maja Chwalinska with a 6-3, 6-1 70-minute win.