It’s been a fairytale fortnight for hometown hero Maddison Inglis.
The 28-year-old West Australian advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open this week, something she dubbed ‘the best result of my career so far’.
‘[I’m] super happy,’ she added.
Ranked 168th in the world, Inglis has enjoyed a sensational fortnight at Melbourne Park after she booked her place in the main draw of the women’s singles with victories over Claire Liu and Tamara Korpatsch.
She would advance to the fourth round of the tournament, where today, she would suffer a 6-0, 6-3 defeat by Iga Swiatek.
Despite the loss, Inglis will walk home with one of her biggest cash prizes to date, $480,000.
It’s been a fairytale fortnight for hometown hero Maddison Inglis, who advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open
On Monday, the West Australian (pictured) was beaten by Polish star Iga Swiatek in straight sets
Inglis (pictured) had been overcome with emotion after surpassing Laura Siegemund in the second round
In her last four tournaments, Inglis has sensationally won, $868, $1,356, $7,086 and now $480,000.
So what will she do with her six-figure winnings?
A toaster.
But not just any toaster.
‘I’ve wanted a Smeg toaster for so long, so long, that I just was, like: ‘No you can’t do that!’,’ Inglis said.
‘So I think that’s going to be my treat, and maybe the kettle, too.’
Inglis also added that she would be investing her earnings into her team and her future.
She added: ‘I also really want a KitchenAid.
Inglis (left) is set to bank a major payday, with the 28-year-old Aussie set to pocket a whopping $480,000
‘I love appliances, so yeah, that’s also been on — I have a list.
‘Maybe I can take a couple off that.’
Inglis is engaged to fellow tennis star Jason Kubler, who, along with fellow Aussie Marc Polmans, has advanced to the quarter-finals of the men’s doubles.
She added that she hopes to buy a home with her fiance at some stage as well as her dream car, a Mini Cooper.
‘I’ll keep working on that,’ she said laughing. ‘I want to be rolling down the Gold Coast in my Mini Cooper, so that’s a dream. We’ll see how the next few months go, and we’ll see.’
Swiatek continued her march towards a career grand slam on Monday.
The Polish star has reached the semi-final at Melbourne Park twice but has fallen short of her bid to add the Australian Open to her major trophy haul.
The 24-year-old won Wimbledon last year, the US Open in 2022 and she owns four French Open titles, winning three in a row between 2022 and 2024.
She added that she hopes to buy a home with her fiance at some stage as well as her dream car, a Mini Cooper
Swiatek is out to make amends for last year’s Australian Open disappointment, falling to eventual champion Madison Keys in three sets despite holding a match point in the deciding set.
Inglis had been helped into the fourth round by the injury-enforced withdrawal of her third-round opponent Naomi Osaka.
While she was intent on continuing her stellar run, the Australian couldn’t match the ruthless strike-power from Swiatek, who swept through the first set in just 32 minutes.
The 28-year-old joined the large crowd at Rod Laver Arena in celebrating when she broke the Polish star to go ahead 1-0 in the second set.
Unfortunately, the joy was short-lived with Swiatek striking straight back and then breaking Inglis again to take a 3-1 lead.
Inglis continued to battle and put up more resistance in the second set and had another break point on Swiatek’s serve.
But in the end, she failed to dent Swiatek’s dominance.
She added that she hopes to buy a home with her fiance at some stage as well as her dream car, a Mini Cooper and drive along the Gold Coast in her new car
is out to make amends for last year’s Australian Open disappointment, falling to eventual champion Madison Keys in three sets despite holding a match point in the deciding set.
‘I felt pretty confident from the beginning,’ the former world No 1 said.
‘I felt like the pace of the ball was much different on my last round so I needed to adjust with my legs and really be precise with my footwork and I’m happy that I went for it.’
Despite the loss, as the last local woman in the draw, Inglis leaves the Australian Open with a huge rankings surge, set to move up to 113.
She will also bank a ‘life-changing’ prize-money cheque of $480,000, while her fiance, Jason Kubler, will play in the quarter-finals of the men’s doubles in an all-Australian pairing with Marc Polmans.
Swiatek will take on fifth seed Elena Rybakina in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
