Thursday 15 January 2026 encapsulated the success of Australia’s women to begin the year.
At Melbourne Park, Storm Hunter and Maddison Inglis contributed to Australia’s largest qualifying contingent at the Australian Open in 34 years, while some huge results at the lead-in tournaments mean the Aussie women’s contingent have entered their home major in form.
Culture Amp Australian Billie Jean King Cup captain Sam Stosur, who was courtside for many of the Aussie women’s matches throughout qualifying, acknowledged their collectively strong start to the 2026 season.
“They're all doing phenomenal things. I said to one of the coaches, 15th of January was an extremely good day for Australian tennis,” she said. “But to have those two qualifiers is just exceptional.
“Maddy, for the first time ever qualifying for [the AO]. I think Storm’s the only Aussie to qualify twice for the Australian Open. Especially given obviously her journey and everything else, you can't want that success more for someone than Storm. She deserves everything that comes her way. So an incredible story for those two.”
Since qualifying, Hunter upset Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the opening round of the main draw on Monday, extending her AO 2026 win streak to four matches.
In the WTA rankings, she’s soared more than 120 places to return to the world’s top 250, after beginning the year at world No.428.
BJK Cup coach Nicole Pratt, in the players’ box as both Hunter and Inglis cemented their places in the main draw, acknowledged the joy surrounding their respective achievements, given their difficult roads.
“It’s exciting for women’s tennis,” she said. “Seeing Storm Hunter qualify, a result for a person very close to my heart, the people’s heart. Her story of resilience, grit, coming back from an Achilles rupture and then qualifying here ranked 360-something in the world is absolutely awesome.
“And then Maddison Inglis, she’s been battling between [world No.100-200], desperately loves to play in the Australian Open … So to see her qualify and be in her corner, that was awesome.”
January 15 was also made special by milestones at the Summer of Tennis lead-in tournaments featuring Taylah Preston and Kimberly Birrell.
Preston reached the Hobart International semifinals after defeating world No.29 Emma Raducanu – the biggest win of her career.
Her run ensured she became the 12th Australian ranked inside the WTA top 200 this week, a huge improvement after being ranked 266th in September 2025.
RANKING MOVERS: Birrell, Preston elevate ahead of home Slam
And she’s set to rise even higher – a projected top-150 return – thanks to her maiden Grand Slam main-draw win on Tuesday, which she achieved by overpowering Chinese former top-25 star Zhang Shuai in three sets.
“It’s impressive because she really struggled last year,” Pratt said of the West Australian. “She’s been reinvigorated, so to speak, with a coaching change, and sometimes that makes a world of difference to have something different.
“She’s certainly one of our up-and-coming Australian players.”
Birrell’s success saw her progress to her first WTA 500 semifinal in Adelaide with victory over Romanian Jaqueline Cristian.
She returned to the top 100 on Monday, vaulting to world No.76 and back in the direction of her career-high mark of 60th, achieved in May 2025.
Birrell faces Inglis in the first round of AO 2026, ensuring at least six Australian women in the second round at Melbourne Park following the progression of Hunter, Preston, Talia Gibson, Priscilla Hon and Ajla Tomljanovic.