A win at the Australian Open and a puddle of tears are not mutually exclusive, apparently.
Maddison Inglis produced a gutsy night-time performance at Melbourne Park, edging lifelong friend Kimberly Birrell in a three-hour classic that finished 7-6(6), 6-7(9), 6-4, and then unspooled emotionally on court.
Inglis wins but feels the weight of friendship
The victory was the sort that makes you proud and a little heartbroken, because Inglis had to eliminate a person she described as one of her closest supporters and a childhood friend.
It’s really, really hard to play such a good friend. The last few days have been a bit stressful.
Maddison Inglis
Those were Inglis’s own words during the on-court interview immediately after the match, and they landed with the blunt honesty of someone who had just held off a friend in an exhausting contest at midnight.
Inglis, the No.168 player in the world, outlasted Birrell, ranked No.76, despite winning fewer winners and being the less flashy player on the scoreboard.
Fans saw a match that was tight from the first serve; both sets one and two were decided by tiebreaks and the third finally broke open on a late double fault from Birrell, giving Inglis the decisive break at 5-4 in the final set.
The match began after 9pm and did not finish until after midnight, which Inglis admitted was challenging because she does not consider herself a night person, yet she said she was “so pumped” to be competing on home soil for the Australian Open.
Moments after the final point Inglis and Birrell shared a long embrace at the net, the kind of scene tennis serves up when careers and friendships overlap and the scoreboard says only one player moves forward.
Online reaction underscored that sentiment, with social posts praising the match as an “underrated match of the day” and calling it “nervous and nail-biting until the end,” as fans applauded the standard on display from two unseeded Australian players.
From qualifiers to paycheques
Inglis’s path to this second-round spot was not handed to her; she came through three qualifying matches, including two wins over seeded opponents, which underlined how much work it took to reach Melbourne Park’s main draw.
Her run guarantees Inglis a tidy payday of $225,000 for reaching the second round and, according to reporting, sets up the potential for $327,000 should she reach the third round, numbers that matter for players ranked outside the top 100.
The two source accounts differ slightly about Inglis’s next opponent: one reported she will face Indonesian Aldila Sutjiadi on Thursday, while another named Laura Siegemund as the next player in her section, so match schedules and draw updates will clarify the name to come.
Why this moment matters beyond the scoreboard
Inglis’s best Grand Slam run to date came when she reached the third round of the Australian Open in 2022, so another win would match or better that career milestone and give this emotional night a sport-side sequel.
More than rankings and prize money, though, this match highlighted the human side of the tour, where players form deep bonds that survive rivalries and the pressure cooker of competing on the same stage against teammates and friends.
The story also fits a longer pattern of emotional moments on tour, where friendships sometimes produce public displays of empathy, and where victories can come wrapped in the bittersweet knowledge of who had to lose on the other side of the net.
For Inglis, a 28-year-old who has shared doubles courts and junior memories with Birrell, the win will be logged in the history books as a late-night classic and in her memory as a match that made her cry for both joy and sympathy.
Keep an eye on the draw this week; if Inglis can translate that emotional resilience into steady play, she has a genuine chance to push deeper into the tournament and make another meaningful mark at her home slam.
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Christoph Friedrich is a German tennis player and coach currently residing in Oakland, California. He began his tennis journey at the age of eight and has since dedicated his life to the sport. After working as a tennis coach and hitting partner in New York City for eight years, Christoph decided to share his knowledge and experience with tennis players around the world by creating the My Tennis Expert blog. His goal is to make tennis education accessible to everyone and help players select the best equipment for their game, from racquets and strings to shoes and overgrips. Christoph's extensive research and expertise in tennis technology make him a valuable resource for players of all levels.
