Australian Open Shines: 6 Aussies Reach Second Round

When Maddison Inglis defeated countrywoman Kimberly Birrell in John Cain Arena to close out Day 3 of the Australian Open, she became the sixth Australian player on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz to reach the second round of the season's first Grand Slam. That number is significant, as it's the most Australian women in the second round of a major since the 1992 Australian Open. Inglis joins Priscilla Hon, Storm Hunter, Talia Gibson, Ajla Tomljanovic and Taylah Preston, all of whom are unseeded. In addition to Birrell, Emerson Jones and Daria Kasatkina lost their first-round matches, as did top-ranked Australian Maya Joint. "Everyone is playing so well," said Inglis, who won her first main-draw match in Melbourne since 2022. "Stormy coming through qualifying and winning, she was playing awesome. I watched Maya this morning, who unfortunately had a really tough match. "We have so many girls playing so well. Taylah won today. Ajla had a great match yesterday. So yeah, it's really awesome to see them get through these tough matches. Talia, as well. I forget about the Perth girl. I think we're just pushing each other, making each other believe that we belong here and we can beat these girls. I think it's amazing." Several seeded players await the Australians in the second round. Hon will take on rising American star Iva Jovic, Gibson will play 23rd seed Diana Shnaider and Preston is set to meet 13th seed Linda Noskova. Elsewhere in the draw, Hunter will play American Hailey Baptiste, Tomljanovic will play Elena-Gabriela Ruse and Inglis will play 37-year-old German Laura Siegemund. There's a deep camaraderie among the Australian players, and they'll be cheering each other on as the tournament progresses. "On the younger side, there's probably me, Talia, Maya, Emerson," Preston, 20, said after her three-set win over Zhang Shuai. "We all get along really well. We all train together up in Brisbane, so it's a really nice environment up there. W're all really good friends. "We want each other to do well. If we have a result, we always send each other a message, or say, 'Well done.' It's a really great group of girls. Also with the older girls, as well. It's someone to look up to, and they can kind of guide us. They have probably had more experience. So yeah, it's a great group."