Maddison Inglis reveals how she will spend life-changing payday after 'crazy' Australian Open ride

The incredible run of Maddison Inglis at the Australian Open came to a disappointing end on Monday night - but the country's newest hero earned plenty of admirers.

After getting through to the main draw at her home grand slam as a qualifier, Inglis took the Aussie public on an enjoyable ride across her time at Melbourne Park.

With wins over Kimberly Birrell and Laura Siegemund in the first two rounds and then getting a slice of luck when Naomi Osaka withdrew from the third round, Inglis faced an enormous task when she squared off against Iga Swiatek.

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While the fans were right behind Inglis in hopes of an unlikely upset, the world No.2 was at her dominant best on Rod Laver Arena in a straight-sets victory.

Swiatek took the opening set 6-0 and it looked like Inglis was going to have a quick night and swift exit from the tournament in front of her home crowd.

But in the first game of the second set, Inglis gave the fans - and herself - a moment to remember, breaking one of the best players on the women's tour.

Inglis celebrated in style, raising her arms in the air and jumping around with a big beaming smile on her face, trying not to take the moment too seriously.

"She probably feels like she's won a set," Sam Smith said on commentary for Nine.

The local hero won another two games in the second set, but was no match for the Polish ace, who took the set out 6-3 to complete a rather clinical win.

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While the result didn't go her way, Inglis explained why she opted to celebrate instead of letting the inevitable result take away from her success.

"She's done it to a few people where she doesn't let them have a game," Inglis said.

"It's not every day you get to play on Rod Laver, so I was like let's get the crowd involved and just kind of enjoy it. I could go the other way and just mope around like I lost the first 6-0 ... but I just wanted to enjoy it and try and keep the spirits up.

"I was happy to win a game and I thought after that I could kind of relax a bit and keep going. I did have a couple of chances to get 4-3 and get it a little bit closer, but I just, unfortunately, didn't take those [opportunities].

"I enjoyed every minute. It was incredible. The support was unbelievable ... but she's just a next-level player. I don't think I've had a lot of experience playing those matches.

"You just kind of feel that pressure from every ball from her. There are a couple of things that I can work on to do better in those moments.

"I thought I did my absolute best out there. I gave it everything."

After reaching the fourth round at a major for the first time in her career, Inglis will pocket a cool $480,000 - something that can set her up long-term in the sport.

Asked how she would use the cash, Inglis admitted a lot would go back into her tennis, but was eyeing off a few other potential items.

"It's the most prize money I've ever received in one tournament," she said.

"I'll definitely use a lot of it to invest back into my tennis and have some people on the road with me to support me and make some weeks a bit easier with family or friends.

"I love shopping, so I'm sure I'll buy something nice. I've wanted a Smeg toaster for so long ... I think that's going to be my treat, maybe the kettle too.

"A big dream is a Mini Cooper. I'll keep working on that. I want to be rolling down the Gold Coast in my Mini Cooper, so that's a dream.

"We'll see how the next few months go."

The 28-year-old will remain in Melbourne to support her partner, Jason Kubler, as he looks to progress deep into the Australian Open men's doubles draw.

But with the whirlwind ride of the past fortnight now over, Inglis was asked how she would deal with the notoriety from the Australian public leading into the future.

"I don't know how much people will recognise me, but we'll see," she said.

"The support from everyone, it's been incredible. It's really cool to sign autographs and have people wanting my autograph is really cool.

"I gave it everything these last two weeks. Going into this tournament, I didn't think that I had that in me. It's honestly crazy if you just get out there and fight every point and I think that's why my emotions were so high, because I couldn't believe it.

"I was so happy, so proud - just kind of riding it all. It's not every day you get to play at a home slam, so I wanted to give it everything.

"Hopefully I made a few people proud."