Australian tennis is on a high after four locals made history with victories in the final round of Australian Open singles qualifying on Thursday.
It’s the most Australian qualifiers to advance at Melbourne Park since 1992.
Storm Hunter, Dane Sweeny and the newly-engaged Maddison Inglis and Jason Kubler each completed three-match winning streaks and will join 17 compatriots in the main draw from Sunday.
This marks a third consecutive year the tournament will feature more than 20 Australian singles entrants, a feat which hasn’t occurred since 1999-2001.
What’s more, Hunter and Inglis’ progression mean it’s only the second time in 25 years that 10 Australian women will compete in the AO first round.
For Hunter, who surpassed American Taylor Townsend in straight sets, it was the fifth time she has successfully come through Grand Slam singles qualifying.
It’s also the first time she’ll play singles at a major since rupturing her Achilles in early 2024, with the 31-year-old paying tribute to her team for helping her through a gruelling rehabilitation program.
“It's just an amazing place to be in and it's a credit to my team as well, how much work we've done behind the scenes every day, just chipping away, getting better, and also just keeping me positive,” she told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.
“To be able to get through that and to be here playing and [to] qualify for a home Grand Slam is just amazing.”
Hunter has history on her side this year – after coming through qualifying at AO 2024, she reached the third round in an outstanding run that was only halted by ninth seed Barbora Krejcikova in a tough three-set battle.
Inglis and Kubler capped off a life-changing two months by earning a main-draw berth within an hour of each other, having gotten engaged in December.
Just a day after her 28th birthday, Inglis secured a straight-sets victory over German Tamara Korpatsch.
It must’ve felt like third-time lucky for Inglis, who fell in the final round of Australian Open qualifying at both the 2025 and 2024 editions.
It marks her first main-draw entrance since 2022 where a deep run saw her make the third round.
Her fiancé Kubler led opponent Alexander Blockx 3-6 6-3 1-0 before the Belgian retired hurt, with the Australian advancing to what will be his sixth main-draw AO singles appearance.
Ranked as low as world No.680 last February, Sweeny completed a remarkable comeback to Grand Slam main draw tennis with a straight-sets win over Italian Stefano Travaglia.
It will be just the second time the in-form 24-year-old will compete in singles at a major, after also coming through AO qualifying two years ago.
The achievement caps off a remarkable 12 months for Sweeny. After falling in round two of AO 2025 qualifying, he won an astonishing 76 of his next 100 matches, including lifting seven ITF trophies.
First-round main-draw matches
Storm Hunter (AUS) v Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (ESP)
Maddison Inglis (AUS) v Kimberly Birrell (AUS)
Jason Kubler (AUS) v [29] Frances Tiafoe (USA)
Dane Sweeny (AUS) v Gael Monfils (FRA)