Maddison Inglis goes from cheering for Leylah Fernandez to defeating her at the Australian Open

As Leylah Fernandez enjoyed her stunning run to last year's US Open final as an unseeded player, among those cheering her on was Australian Maddison Inglis.

Inglis knew Fernandez because she is a close friend of Fernandez's doubles partner, New Zealander Erin Routliffe, and — as the Canadian proceeded to defy expectations by reaching the tournament decider — the Australian was one of her biggest fans.

Fast forward to this week's Australian Open and Fernandez could no longer count on Inglis's support, but not because they had a falling out.

Instead, they were facing each other on opposite sides of the net in an Australian Open first-round encounter at Melbourne Park.

In what was one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far, the 133rd-ranked Inglis defeated the 23rd-seeded Fernandez in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.

«I actually watched a lot of Leylah at the US Open because she was playing with my really good friend Erin in the doubles,» Inglis said at her post-match media conference at Melbourne Park.

«We were there supporting, watching her singles matches, then I would go watch her doubles matches. She's such a lovely girl.»

Sam Stosur extends her outstanding singles career by one more match after launching an inspired fightback to beat Robin Anderson in three sets at Melbourne Park.

Inglis — a wildcard at Melbourne Park — was a gracious winner on Tuesday, admitting she felt Fernandez was not at peak fitness for the season-opening major.

But the significance of the 24-year-old's achievement cannot be understated, given it was only her fifth major and she had never before progressed past the first round.

Among those appearances were two previous tilts at the Australian Open main draw, with the first back as 2016.

«This is my first