Australian Tennis Shines at US Open with Five Players Advancing
Australian tennis didn’t just announce itself in New York. It roared.
On a single, chaotic day at the US Open, James Duckworth, Alexei Popyrin, Kim Birrell and Maya Joint all punched their tickets to the second round, joining Taylah Preston and turning Flushing Meadows into a surprise outpost of green and gold. Five Australians are through, all guaranteed a $AU265,000 payday, their combined haul already at $1.325 million – and climbing.
Duckworth stuns Arnaldi
The headline shock belonged to Duckworth.
Up against 30th seed Matteo Arnaldi, a French Open semi-finalist and heavy favourite, the Australian arrived as the underdog and walked off as the story of the day. He dropped a tight first set 5-7, then flipped the script with a surge of clean hitting and stubborn defence that the Italian never fully solved.
Duckworth stormed through the next two sets 6-3 6-2, riding his serve and taking time away from Arnaldi, who looked increasingly rattled. The fourth set turned into a nerve test. It went to a tiebreak. Then it tightened again.
At 10-8 in the breaker, Duckworth completed a 5-7 6-3 6-2 7-6 (10-8) comeback that felt like a statement as much as an upset. His recent run of form has been hot; this win pushed it into boiling territory.
Popyrin floors former No.3
If Duckworth supplied the shock, Popyrin delivered the scalp.
Drawn against former World No.3 Grigor Dimitrov, a grand slam semi-finalist and one of the game’s purest shot-makers, Popyrin could easily have been swept away. His ranking, World No.130, and a long stretch of injuries and poor results told one story.
His tennis told another.
After dropping the opening set 3-6, Popyrin reset, tightened his patterns and began to dictate with heavy, fearless ball-striking. Dimitrov’s rhythm cracked. Popyrin’s belief grew.
The scoreline flipped: 6-3 6-2 6-2 to the Australian, a ruthless finish that underlined how badly he wanted his place back in the grand slam winner’s circle. For a player who has spent too long on the treatment table and in the shadows, this was a reminder of what his ceiling still looks like.
Birrell’s sleepless breakthrough
Kim Birrell’s win came with its own kind of drama.
She had never won a main-draw singles match at the US Open. Three attempts, three first-round exits in 2023, 2024 and 2025. This time, against Petra Marcinko, the script threatened to turn cruel again.
Birrell lost the first set 3-6 and then watched the New York rain intervene, suspending the match overnight and handing her a long, restless stretch to think about it. When play resumed, she faced a match point and the weight of her own history.
She saved it. Then she stole the second-set tiebreak 7-4, dragging the contest into a decider. Suddenly, the tension shifted to Marcinko.
Birrell seized her chance, closing out the third set 6-3 and with it her maiden US Open singles victory: 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3. World No.71, finally on the board in New York.
Off the court, life is moving quickly too. She is set to marry her coach, Matt Fraser, later in the year, and the six-figure cheque will travel well.
“Oh my gosh, I don’t think I’ll be spending it here,” she told AAP in New York. “I’ll definitely save some of it. We’re getting married at the end of the year so that helps a lot and maybe I’ll buy some extra flowers. And we’ve got a mortgage. Yeah, the mortgage.”
Joint keeps her revival rolling
Maya Joint added another layer to the Australian surge.
Facing Liudmila Samsonova, the higher-ranked Russian and a dangerous opponent on hard courts, Joint looked in trouble early as she surrendered the first set 3-6. Then came the response of a player rebuilding her season.
Joint adjusted, steadied and began to control the baseline exchanges. Once she found her range, Samsonova’s authority faded. Joint ripped through the final two sets 6-2 6-2, a commanding turnaround that carried the air of a player rediscovering herself after a horror start to 2026.
Her revival now has a marquee win attached to it.
Preston leads the charge, others fall short
Taylah Preston had already done her part on Monday, banking her own first-round win to set the tone for the Australian contingent. By the end of day two, she had company – and plenty of it.
Not every story went Australia’s way.
Rinky Hijikata ran into third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and bowed out in four sets, a tough draw against a player with genuine title ambitions. Aleksandar Vukic fought deep into a fifth set against Rei Sakamoto in a marathon that, like Birrell’s clash, had been postponed overnight. His effort came up just short.
The contrast was stark: heartbreak for some, a breakout wave for others.
Alcaraz returns, Sabalenka rolls
On the broader stage, the defending champions did what defending champions are supposed to do.
Carlos Alcaraz walked back into Arthur Ashe Stadium after a four-month absence with a wrist injury and immediately looked at home again. Facing Roman Safiullin, the Spaniard never loosened his grip, winning 6-4 6-4 6-4 and ticking off the most important box of all: a clean, confident return.
“It’s been a really tough five months for me,” Alcaraz said. “Being able to step on the Arthur Ashe, being able to compete again, I couldn’t decide to come back in a better tournament. It’s a really special place for me.”
Aryna Sabalenka, chasing a rare US Open three-peat, opened her campaign with the kind of blunt, heavy-hitting performance that has become her trademark. She dismissed Camila Osorio 6-2 6-4, absorbing the Colombian’s resistance and then punching through it.
“She brought the fight,” Sabalenka said. “She battled really well and I just tried to stay as aggressive as possible.
“I think I played great. She’s a tough opponent, makes you work really hard to get every point, so I’m happy that I was able to close the match in straight sets.”
As the night closed over New York, the big names were still on track, the champions were still standing – and, against most expectations, so were five Australians with momentum, money in the bank and a suddenly intriguing second round ahead of them.
