Maddison Inglis had a point to prove.
It’s been four years since she competed in the main draw of the Australian Open, and on Thursday she proved to the world she very much belongs at this tournament level as she continued through to the third round of her home Slam.
She faced world No.48 Laura Siegemund on ANZ Arena – a player ranked more than 100 places higher than Inglis – yet the Aussie emerged victorious in a blaze of glory, triumphing 6-4 6-7(3) 7-6[10-7].
It was a match that had the crowd on the edge of their seats; both players trading breaks and two tiebreaks deciding which way the tide would turn.
But throughout it all, the Aussie crowd spurred on their local favourite.
“As soon as I walked out there, it was full, and I know it's such an electric court, but I was not expecting that many people to be there for my match,” said Inglis.
“[I’m] so grateful that I got to play out there and to have everyone's support was incredible. Especially in the third [set], when you're nervous and tired, it had been … almost three hours, I think. And yeah, they just gave me that energy in the end to finish it off.”
Inglis kept the pressure on her German opponent, leaning on 35 winners to cause Siegemund to commit 28 forced errors, all the while taking each point as it came and not letting the scoreboard pull her focus.
“The way I can compose myself in those big moments is really cool,” Inglis said. “So, I'm really, really proud of that. And I'll take it into the rest of the year.”
The deciding set saw Inglis bounce back from a two-game deficit, tipping the scales from 4-2 down to win three consecutive games, before the set progressed to a 10-point match tiebreak.
“Anything can happen in 10-pointers. So, I just tried to focus on one point at a time and I obviously got a good lead, which was great. So, I had a little bit of a buffer if I got a little bit nervous at the end,” Inglis reflected.
“I was really proud how I managed myself in the tie break … [Siegemund’s] such a great competitor. So, I had to work for it. And I'm really grateful it went my way.”
This is Inglis’s second career win over a top-50 player; the first was over world No.24 Leylah Fernandez at Australian Open 2022 – the other time she reached this stage of the main draw at Melbourne Park.
It’s been a long road to get to this point. The four-year gap between main-draw appearances at the Australian Open seems to have fuelled the flames, sparking the next era of Inglis’s career.
It’s made all the more special by the fact it’s happened on home soil.
“Tennis is brutal. You have some incredible moments and some really, really hard ones,” Inglis said.
“I haven't been in main draw of a Grand Slam for a long time and to be in a Grand Slam in Melbourne, like it's my favourite tournament. My family's here, Jason [Kubler] was right there. To be able to share these wins with them is like, it's crazy and it's so special.”
The first round of the main draw saw Inglis competing against good friend and compatriot Kimberly Birrell in a three-hour battle, where the Perth-born player emerged triumphant in her first Grand Slam main-draw win since 2022.
Still high off the win, Inglis carried that newfound confidence into her second-round match on Thursday, attacking early and sporting a smile as she secured the first set with a backhand winner.
Inglis now faces a third round clash with four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, who survived Sorana Cirstea in three sets.
“It'll be a tough match,” Inglis acknowledged. “Right now I'm just gonna soak it all in… you're not in the third round of a Grand Slam every day.”
But before that, Inglis will team with fiancé Kubler in a mixed doubles outing against Lloyd Glasspool from Great Britain, and Slovak Tereza Mihalikova.
“He's an awesome doubles player, so I'm excited to play with him,” Inglis said of Kubler. “We'll have some fun and it's not every day you get to play mix [doubles] at a Grand Slam with your fiancé.”