Australian wildcard Maddison Inglis has pulled off an enormous upset on the second day of the Australian Open, knocking 23rd seed and 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez out of the tournament.
Inglis held her head in disbelief and smiled from ear to ear after wrapping up a 6-4, 6-2 win at 1573 Arena.
It is an unbelievable result for the 24-year-old, who is ranked 133rd in the world and finally has her first Grand Slam singles win, setting up a second-round duel with American world No.147 Hailey Baptiste.
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“She did all she had to do today, which was make a lot of balls, stay steady, and she did a fantastic job in the end amongst all the nerves and all the emotion,” said former British tennis player Laura Robson in commentary.
“She can’t believe it.”
Inglis fought back tears as she spoke with Nine’s Clint Stanaway in her on-court interview.
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“No, I seriously can’t [believe it]. I’m shaking,” Inglis said.
“I’m super stoked with how I played today. I thought I executed the game plan really well and I held my nerve really well and I’m so happy to win my first round at the AO.
“It’s incredible. I’ve had a few goes at it and I kind of joked around saying, ‘Third time lucky’, and it turns out it was! I’m really looking forward to keep it going.
“I’m going to cry. I had a couple of really close friends here [supporting me].”
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