Australian qualifier Maddison Inglis has fought her way into the third round of the Australian Open with a tense three-set victory over German veteran Laura Siegemund. The world No 168 won 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (10-7) in a gruelling three hours and 20 minutes on ANZ Arena.
Inglis, 28, failed to serve out the match in the second set but recovered after breaking Siegemund when the German served for the match at 5-4 in the third. Despite appearing to injure herself late in the match, the Perth product held her nerve to win the first-to-10-point tiebreak. "In the third set the crowd gave me the energy I didn't think I had," she said.
The win marks Inglis's first main-draw victory at a grand slam since 2022 and equals her best result at a major, achieved at Melbourne Park four years ago. She will pocket $327,750 and is set to rise to the cusp of the top 100 from her current ranking of 168. Inglis is the only Australian woman to reach the third round, joining Alex de Minaur as Australia's likely sole survivors in the singles draw.
Other Australian hopes faded on Thursday as Rinky Hijikata and Dane Sweeny lost their second-round matches. Sweeny was beaten by American eighth seed Ben Shelton in straight sets, while Hijikata fell to 30th seed Valentin Vacherot. Taylah Preston also exited, taking a set off 13th seed Linda Noskova before losing in three sets.
