JODIE BURRAGE admitted she was walking on air today after what she rated as one of the best wins of her career at the Australian Open.

The 25-year-old Brit said before the tournament that she considered quitting the sport a couple of months ago, however she’s ecstatic now that she’s tasted victory for the first time in Melbourne Park, with a 6-2 6-4 success against French qualifier Leolia Jeanjean.

It was Burrage’s first match at a grand slam since a first-round defeat here last year, after suffering a wrist injury in February that needed surgery before rupturing an ankle ligament just as she was about to make her comeback.

“I think I was really nervous for this match, even last night,” said a beaming Burrage, who faces a formidable challenge next against third seed Coco Gauff.

“I have not had that in a while. I think, because I know I have been playing some good tennis, I know what a good opportunity today was. I knew the hard work that went in for the last year. All of those emotions from the last nine months I think were bottled up in there.

“Everything I did, all I was saying is, ‘I want to get to Australia, I know I’ll be good in Australia.’ So I didn’t really want to let the opportunity go to waste today. I’m very happy that I managed to get over the line. I think I handled myself well throughout the match.

“Just at the end, it was always going to come out at some point. I’m just very, very happy. It was definitely up there with one of the best wins of my career.”

She missed the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open last year and was at her lowest moment as she tried to work her way back up the rankings at lower-tier events during the autumn.

But a title in Dubai, the biggest of her career, to end the season gave her a huge boost and Burrage produced a fluent display against Jeanjean for just her third victory at a slam.

She used her powerful groundstrokes and serve to good effect and did not face a break point throughout the 73-minute contest.

More good news for the Brits in the men’s game after Jacob Fearnley beat Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (3) 6-3 7-6 (2).

The Scot rated it one of the best experiences of his life, however Kyrgios admitted the straight-sets loss it may have been the final chapter in singles at his home grand slam.

Kyrgios gave full credit to Fearnley, saying that he played really well: “I was really impressed with his level. Hits the ball really flat, really aggressive.

“I knew tonight was going to be tough. With my physical state going into the match, I knew that I was going to be really hindered with my serve,” he said.

The Australian played at Melbourne Park for the first time in three years following knee and wrist operations and unfortunately was hampered by an abdominal strain.

“But just seeing the fans line up for four, five hours, just the amount of people that were there supporting me, it was hard to throw the towel in,” Kyrios said.

“Realistically, I can’t really see myself probably playing singles again here. It was special. Taking that in, it was pretty good. It was nuts.”

Kyrgios is still eyeing the rest of the grand slams this year, especially Wimbledon, where he reached the final in 2022.

This was only Fearnley’s third slam match after his meteoric rise up the rankings since leaving college in the United States last spring.