Wildcard Maddison Inglis goes down in three sets to Kaia Kanepi at Australian Open

Maddison Inglis's inspired run at the Australian Open has come to an end, with the local wildcard going down in three sets to Estonia's Kaia Kanepi.

Inglis — ranked 133 in the world — had never won a singles match at a major until this week and she appeared on the verge of causing an upset against Kanepi when she won the first set.

But Kanepi's experience proved a factor, with the 36-year-old winning 10 of the final 11 games to triumph 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 in an hour and 31 minutes on a sun-bathed Rod Laver Arena.

Inglis's loss leaves world number one Ash Barty as the only Australian left in the women's main draw.

The 24-year-old from Perth provided a compelling storyline in the first week of the Open, having stunned US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez with a straight-sets win in the first round.

Ash Barty will face Amanda Anisimova in the last 16 after the unseeded American ended Naomi Osaka's Australian Open title defence.

She defeated American qualifier Hailey Baptiste to reach the third round, but beating Kanepi— who has been ranked as high as 15 in the world — proved to be a challenge too far.

Inglis will enjoy a significant rankings boost following her showing at Melbourne Park, while she will be $221,000 richer as reward for making the last 32.

She had only earned $530,715 in career prize money prior to the tournament.

In the first set, Inglis showed no signs of being overawed facing Kanepi on Melbourne Park's centre court, with the temperature hovering above 30 degrees Celsius.

She burst out of the blocks in the opening set, racing out to a 4-0 lead.

The West Australian broke Kanepi in her opening two service games, with the Estonian finding her powerful groundstrokes nullified by her lower-ranked opponent.

Kanepi got on the