Australian qualifier Maddison Inglis has battled through a tense three-set epic to reach the third round of the Australian Open, defeating German veteran Laura Siegemund 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-7) in a match lasting three hours and 20 minutes on ANZ Arena.
The world No 168, appearing in her first grand slam main draw since 2022, failed to serve out the second set but recovered from a break down in the third, winning the first-to-10-point tiebreaker after a dramatic late rally. Inglis collapsed to the court after clinching the final point, becoming the only Australian woman to progress to the round of 32.
“I didn’t come in with high expectations. I can take it to anyone on any given day, but I wouldn’t have dreamed of this,” Inglis said. “In the third set the crowd gave me the energy I didn’t think I had. Coming into this I hadn’t played a match for six weeks.” She has spent six hours and 21 minutes on court across her two main-draw singles matches, and is guaranteed $327,750 for reaching the third round.
Other Australian hopes faded on Thursday, with Rinky Hijikata, Dane Sweeny and Taylah Preston all exiting. Sweeny lost to American eighth seed Ben Shelton in one hour 42 minutes, while Hijikata fell to 30th seed Valentin Vacherot after briefly forcing a third set. Preston took a set off 13th seed Linda Noskova but ultimately lost 6-2 4-6 6-2.
Alex de Minaur remains the only Australian man through, after overcoming Serb Hamad Medjedovic. Veteran wildcard James Duckworth faces the toughest challenge yet, taking on dual defending champion Jannik Sinner on Rod Laver Arena.
