The Australian Open’s clique of champions didn’t have it easy on Saturday. Jannik Sinner survived despite severe cramps. Novak Djokovic was almost disqualified for a near miss with a ballgirl. Stan Wawrinka played at Melbourne Park for the last time. And Naomi Osaka was an 11th-hour withdrawal from her third round clash with an abdomen complaint.
By comparison, Australian Maddison Inglis – the unheralded qualifier who at 28 is still hoping to crack the top 100 – had it easy. After the walkover from the Osaka match, Inglis waltzes into the fourth round and a clash with the No 2 seed Iga Swiatek, a week after she was almost eliminated in the first round of qualifying. “I was down two match points in that match,” she told Channel Nine. “Tennis is pretty crazy like that.”
Rather than Inglis v Osaka, Rod Laver Arena’s crowd were given a Saturday night consolation doubles match featuring Inglis’ fiance Jason Kubler and his partner Marc Polmans against Jakub Paul and Marcus Willis. “They were super pumped when they found that out,” Inglis said of the Australian duo. “I’m going to go out and watch a little bit and then get some rest, because it has been a big couple of weeks.”
Financially, Inglis’s tournament has already been massive. Arriving in Melbourne, her career earnings were about $2.1m. Had she lost in the first round of qualifying to Spain’s world No 141 Leyre Romero Gormaz, Inglis would have still pocketed $40,500. For making the fourth round of the main draw, she receives $480,000, equivalent to almost a quarter of her all-time take.
“The [rankings] points, the money, the experience, the fans, the courts that I’m getting to play on, it’s honestly unbelievable, it’s like a dream,” she said. “But yeah, that money is life-changing. When I saw [prize money for] first round qualies was forty grand, I was like, ‘whoa, that’s amazing’, so it’s unbelievable.”
Inglis’s toughest test has perhaps been against fellow Australian and good friend Kimberly Birrell. After that first round victory, Inglis cried on court. Birrell – alongside Talia Gibson as a wildcard pair in the women’s doubles – also progressed on Saturday night. They overcame the long heat suspension to defeat second seeds Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini to reach the third round.
Despite how close that first round three-hour epic was, Birrell – ranked almost 100 places above Inglis going into the tournament – said she hasn’t entertained the thought that it could easily have been her in the fourth round rather than her friend. “She absolutely deserves to be in the fourth round, and she put herself in the situation,” Birrell said. “After the match, I was really happy for her and also to see her success. What’s happening tonight, I’m really excited for her.”
Top-ranked Australian woman Maya Joint also extended her stay in Melbourne after her disappointing first-round singles loss. She won through to round three in doubles on Saturday night, with partner Storm Hunter. The pair beat the No 7 seeds Aleksandra Krunic and Anna Danilina in another match bookending the near five-hour heat delay. “I didn’t feel it [the heat] that much, I thought it was warm, but I didn’t think it was bad enough for it to be a heat delay,” Joint said.
The match ended at dusk on court six adjacent to the courtside bar, which would otherwise be party peak hour. But most fans had long since departed the precinct after the heat protocols suspended all matches on outside courts. Only a smattering were left to see the pair close it out. “It was a bit of a strange one,” Hunter said. “But I was really proud of the way that, when it was time to go, we were both ready to go.”
