From near qualifying defeat to magical Round of 16 run, meet Australia's Maddison Inglis

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Maddison Inglis was on the verge of elimination before the Australian Open main draw even began.

Facing two match points against Leyre Romero Gormaz in her first match of the season, Inglis' run in Melbourne was close to ending in that first qualifying round match. But she saved the match points, and thus began an ongoing miraculous run to the Australian Open fourth round.

Advancing to the Round of 16 via walkover because of Naomi Osaka's withdrawal, Inglis is the lone qualifier and one of two unseeded players remaining. Despite not playing in the third round, Inglis has earned her spot and will face Iga Swiatek Monday. 

"To have these moments in Melbourne with family, friends... it's been a crazy couple of weeks so we're just trying to enjoy it, just kind of cherish these moments because they don't happen all the time," Inglis said to wtatennis.com.

Ahead of her fourth round match vs. the World No. 2 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, get to know Inglis, who caught up with wtatennis.com Sunday:

She's played 972 minutes on-court at the Australian Open

To say she's had to go the long way might be an understatement. Across singles, doubles and mixed doubles, she's spent 16 hours and 12 minutes on court, of which nearly 13.5 hours were spent on singles. Of her five singles matches, four have gone three sets -- six sets of those three-set thrillers have be decided by tiebreaks. 

For comparison, Swiatek has played just over five hours through her three matches, with one three-set match and one tiebreak set. 

"Tiebreaks are something that I've never really been too worried about," Inglis said. "Even if you have a bad start in a tie break, you can come back. If you do have a good start, they can come back. Anything can happen, just got to kind of play one point at a time and yet just kind of hang around, which is what I think I've been doing."

One of those three-set matches came against her closest friend, fellow Australian Kim Birrell, one that was both exciting and emotional for Inglis. Inglis said they have known each other since they were 10 years old, both reside in Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia and Inglis is very close with Birrell's family. 

"That was really tough, but that's kind of tennis, and you've somehow got to block it out," said Inglis, who defeated Laura Siegemund in the second round in three hours and 20 minutes. "I was really proud of myself in that match for how I was able to do that and also play some good tennis. She's such a tough competitor."

Inglis has played in 11 Australian Opens but just four main draws 

The tournament isn't unfamiliar for the 28-year-old Aussie as she's playing in Melbourne Park for the 11th time, dating back to 2014. However, this run is the furthest she's ever made at a Grand Slam and just the fourth main draw at the event. The other seven times she's had to go through qualifiers, with 2026 being the only time she's advanced out of them. 

Fans might remember her 2022 Australian Open, where Inglis -- then a wild card ranked No. 133 -- reached the third round with wins over No. 23 seeded Leylah Fernandez and Hailey Baptiste before falling to Kaia Kanepi.

"That was a pretty crazy couple of weeks," Inglis said reflecting on 2022. "I got a wild card in ... so probably didn't play as much tennis as I have now, but I think it's also so good that I've had so much time on court

This will be the second meeting between Inglis and Swiatek

They two players faced each other over five years ago at the 2021 Adelaide International. The fifth-seeded Swiatek cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Inglis that day, but plenty of time has passed since then.

Inglis is ranked No. 168 in the PIF WTA Rankings, and this will be her first top five opponent since falling to then-No. 4 Sofia Kenin in the first round of 2021 Australian Open. Through this Australian Open run, she's achieved 240 ranking points and is guaranteed at least $480,000 AUD ($322,430 USD) in singles prize money alone.

With a win, those numbers could just to 430 points and $750,000 AUD ($503,795 USD) for reaching the quarterfinals. All numbers apply to Swiatek as well. 

"The rest day for me is awesome," Inglis said. "Just to have an extra day to rest my body and get some good sleep is really important. I'm super excited to get out there and train today and have another go tomorrow."

Inglis' mixed-doubles partner, Jason Kubler, is also her fiancé

The Australian swing as a whole has been jubilant both on and off the court. Last month, Inglis got engaged to longtime partner Jason Kubler on Rottnest, Island, off the coast of Perth where Inglis is from. Kubler and Inglis also played mixed doubles together in Melbourne, though bowing out in the first round. 

"The last month has been pretty crazy," Inglis said. "When Jason did ask me, that was such an exciting day. We've been able to spend every day together since then, which has been really special. He's been amazing support. Whenever he can be on the side of the court at my practice, he's there. So it means a lot.

"We have made a little bit of money this tournament. We've been really trying to buy something together -- buy a house together. I think this obviously really helps with that and for our future."

The beach, dogs and recently Lego are some of her favorites

Born and raised in Perth, Western Australia and currently living in Gold Coast, Inglis said it isn't a surprise that she's a  beach person. She's also a huge fan of dogs, and recently legos. 

Back at her family's home in Perth, she misses her caboodle, Benson, but she's hoping one day she and Kubler can get another family dog once they tie the knot. As for the legos, it's become a new hobby that stemmed from a Christmas gift she gave to her nephew. 

"I've recently been interested in Lego, which is a little bit of a weird thing for me," Inglis said. "I bought a little Lego box for my nephew for Christmas, and I helped him build it. I was like 'Wow, this is really fun.' So I have bought a few things since then.

"It's just so good to switch off and kind of create something cute and pop them around the house. That's been a thing lately that I'm really enjoying."