Silvija Talaja debuted at the ITF Belgrade in 1991. She played further ten ITF tournaments in 1992, reaching one QF and one SF, as well as scoring her first top 100 victory. In 1993 she qualified for a WTA tournament in Essen where she lost to no. 1 seed A. Sanchez-Vicario in the 1st round. She reached 2nd round at WTA Palermo in 1994 and qualified for further three WTA tournaments in 1995.
First WTA final
In March 1996 Talaja won her first ITF tournament at Makarska and soon after reached her first WTA final at Bol. In August she reached the semifinals at WTA Vienna and quarterfinals at Prague. In October the same year she entered top-100 for the first time. In 1997 she debuted at a Grand Slam at the Australian Open and reached 2nd round at Roland Garros. She reached the semifinals at Pattaya in 1998 but played mostly on the ITF tour.
At the 1999 Australian Open, Talaja lost to 5th seed Venus Williams 7-9 in the third set, being two points away from victory. In May she reached the SF at WTA Warsaw and then made it to 3rd round at Roland Garros. Talaja then reached her second WTA final at s-Hertogenbosch and entered top 50 for the first time. The following month she reached another final, this time at WTA Vienna. The following week she reached the semifinals at WTA Sopot, again losing to Habsudova. In August Talaja reached hear third semifinals of the season at WTA Brussels and in November her fourth SF at WTA Pattaya City. On November 1999 she entered top 30 for the first time. In 1999 Talaja won career-best 32 WTA tour matches and finished the season at no. 29.
Winning first WTA tournament
In January 2000 Talaja won the WTA Gold Coast, scoring three successive top 20 victories along the way. At the German open in Berlin she lost to Martina Hingis in 3rd round after having two set points in the 1st set. In May Talaja won the her second WTA tournament of the year at WTA Strasbourg. The following week her ranking rose to career-highest at no. 18. Later that year Talaja reached 3rd round at Wimbledon. In August Talaja reached 3rd round at the Du Maurier Open, but apart from the Sydney Olympics, failed to reach a second round at a tournament for the rest of the year. She finished her most successful season ranked at no. 30.
Injuries and come-back
At the 2001 Australian Open Talaja d. Alicia Molik 6-0 6-0 but l. to Amanda Coetzer in 2nd round. She reached just one QF and one SF during the entire season, and l. in 1st round 13 times. Struggling with injuries, Talaja dropped out of top 100 by the end of the year. Talaja started the 2002 season by reaching the SF at WTA Auckland. She reached another SF at WTA Warsaw in May, and reached the finals of WTA Tokyo. She finished the season at no. 75, having also reached QF at WTA Pattaya and Memphis and 2nd round at Indian Wells and Scottsdale. 2003 was the final top-100 season of Talaja's career. She reached QF four times and 2nd round seven times, including at Indian Wells, Miami, Roland Garros and US Open. Her year-end ranking was no. 93.
Final years of Talaja's career
In 2004 Talaja reached QF just once and played in the 3rd round of WTA Pacific Open at Indian Wells. In 2005 Talaja reached the 2nd round of a WTA tournament three times and finished her season at no. 200. Talaja played just three tournaments in 2006 and retired at the end of the year. In November 2007 she made a short come-back, playing at the $25.000 ITF in Ismaning, Germany, but lost in the 1st round.
