Home hope Maddison Inglis saw her run at the Australian Open come to an end after suffering a heavy defeat to Iga Swiatek in the fourth round.
Inglis, who came through qualifying to book her place in the main draw at Melbourne Park, lost 6-0, 6-3 to Swiatek in one hour and 13 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
The 28-year-old Australian could not find an answer for the six-time major champion, who will now face Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals as she continues her pursuit of a Career Grand Slam.
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Swiatek, seeded second at this year’s Australian Open, has been impressive so far, dropping just one set in her campaign.
During her warm-up with Inglis before the match, the crowd favourite was left shocked at the player she was about to face.
Maddison Inglis recalls her warm-up with Iga Swiatek
In her post-match press conference, Inglis said: “I did say to Jason [Kubler] after he maybe should have spun it a bit more in the warmup.
“Because, yeah, I was hitting with him the last couple of days to kind of get used to that, but the first couple of balls in the warmup, I was hitting them up here. I was, like, Whoa. You know, that wasn’t what we had practiced.
“But, yeah, it’s just different. She plays a little different to the other women. Yeah, I thought I handled it all right out there.
“It’s just that, you know, there’s a few little things I’ve got to adapt to better, I think. Yeah, I want to play more matches against those players, so hopefully this year I can.”
Inglis, who achieved her best career Grand Slam finish at the Australian Open, earned two wins in the main draw, beating compatriot Kimberly Birrell and WTA veteran Laura Siegemund.
She was set to face four-time major champion Naomi Osaka, but the Japanese star withdrew from the tournament due to injury.
Maddison Inglis reveals what she plans to spend the prize money on
For making the fourth-round, Inglis will receive A$480,000 in prize money.
When asked what she plans to spend it on, she replied: “Yeah, I don’t know. Yeah, it’s a lot of money. It’s, yeah, the most prize money I’ve ever received in one tournament. Yeah, it’s pretty cool.
“I’ll definitely use a lot of it to invest back into my tennis and have some people on the road with me to support me and make some weeks a bit easier with family or friends, yeah, because it’s a long year. Yeah, do that, for sure.
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“I love shopping, (laughter), so I’m sure I’ll buy something nice. I’ve wanted a Smeg toaster for so long, so long, that I just was, like, no you can’t do that. So I think that’s going to be my treat, and maybe the kettle, too.
“But, yeah, so I think I’ll do that. Yeah, just have a chilled week on the Gold Coast, which I’m looking forward to at home. Yeah, before that I’ll be out there supporting Jason in the doubles.”
Prior to this year, Inglis’ best Grand Slam result in singles was a third-round finish at the 2022 Australian Open.
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