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There were two top-10 players and a Wimbledon champion on the court at the Hopman Cup in Perth on Tuesday, but a local teenager ranked 771 in the world also got plenty of attention.
Maddison Inglis, who turns 20 later this month, answered an SOS call from tournament director Paul Kilderry in the morning, to fill in for Japan’s Naomi Osaka, who had fallen ill and couldn’t take her place on court.
Inglis, who has already had a small taste of the big time, went from making breakfast at home to warming up to play American world No.10 CoCo Vandeweghe.
Playing for team Japan, she was also supposed to team up with Yuichi Sugita to play against Vandeweghe and Jack Sock.
But Sock was forced to retire early in the second set of his singles match, so was replaced in the fast4 mixed doubles by Vandeweghe’s coach – Pat Cash.
The results of the matches were irrelevant as far as the tournament was concerned. Osaka’s forfeit gave the US a 6-0 6-0 win in both the women’s singles and fast4 mixed doubles – handing them the tie.
But Vandeweghe found herself in a tough match against the youngster, having to save several break points and even losing one service game in each set.
Inglis lost 7-6 6-2 but looked at ease against her more experienced opponent.
She was still pinching herself after leaving the court.
“It was amazing, I’m still on a bit of a buzz,” she said.
“I’m really glad I was able to compete with her today; it was awesome.
“I think if I’d known last night I probably wouldn’t have been able to sleep so I think it worked out perfectly.”
Just two years ago, Inglis won the 2016 Australian Open women’s wildcard playoff against Arina Rodionova.
But 2017 wasn’t so great.
She doesn’t think she appreciated her feat as much then as she would if she achieved it now.
She took some time off to deal with “a few mental health issues” and says that she is better off for it. Now, she is focused on being on court as much as she can.
“I’ll play the Aussie circuit and go to the US – maybe do a few months on tour,” she said.
“I’m still waiting on Hobart (International) because obviously my ranking is really bad after not playing for about seven months.
“I really want to get back to there and play (the Australian Open) next year, hopefully on my own ranking.”
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