Toby Samuel Achieves First Grand Slam Victory at US Open
Toby Samuel walked into the US Open as a qualifier. He walked off court on Monday looking every inch a man who belongs here.
On his main-draw debut in New York, the 23-year-old Briton dismantled former world number 20 Tomas Machac 6-2 6-3 6-2 in just over 90 minutes, sealing not only his first Grand Slam win but a statement of intent.
This time there was no need for heroics. No scrambling back from the brink. After coming from a set down in each of his three qualifying matches, Samuel took control from the first ball and never really let Machac breathe.
“It means everything to me. It's what I dreamt of as a kid watching these big tournaments,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Being able to win my first Grand Slam match is unbelievable.”
Two years ago, this would have sounded fanciful. Back then, bone bruising in his right arm wrecked much of his 2024 season and his ranking collapsed towards 2,000 in the world. He was miles from the glamour of Arthur Ashe Stadium, trying to get healthy and simply stay on tour.
He rebuilt the hard way. On the Challenger circuit. Away from the cameras.
Samuel won 36 of 39 matches on the ATP Challenger Tour to fight his way back into the top 300 last year, a surge that laid the foundations for what has followed in 2026. The results since then have turned a quiet comeback into one of the stories of the season.
From Winchester to the world stage
The Winchester native arrived in Paris this year having never played a single ATP Tour main-draw match. He left Roland Garros as a Grand Slam debutant who had survived qualifying, and with a new sense that he belonged in these surroundings.
That run lit the fuse. He rode the confidence into the grass season, reaching the semi-finals at Eastbourne, earning a Wimbledon wildcard, and then lifting a third Challenger title of the year on the hard courts of Winnipeg.
Now, after this victory in New York, Samuel has pushed himself inside the live top 100. The rewards are tangible: a career-best payday of $140,000 (£103,000) and, crucially, a ranking high enough to secure automatic entry into next January’s Australian Open. If he steps on court in Melbourne, he will have completed the full set of majors barely a year after cracking the top 250.
Against Machac, he played like a man used to these stages.
Samuel was clinical in the first two sets, dropping just five points on serve across nine service games. At one stage he rattled through three consecutive holds to love as part of a seven-game burst that left Machac reeling and the match effectively gone.
Even when he did wobble, he slammed the door shut. Trailing 2-0 at the start of the third set, he simply reset, reeled off the next six games, and saved two break points along the way. The scoreline – 6-2 6-3 6-2 – reflected the gulf on the day.
Waiting next is Czech 18th seed Jiri Lehecka
Waiting next is Czech 18th seed Jiri Lehecka in the second round. A different level of test. A different level of spotlight.
Learning to see stars as opponents
Samuel still sounds a little wide-eyed about the company he now keeps. He admitted that at Roland Garros he was starstruck in the locker room by names like Alexander Zverev, the kind of players he grew up watching on television.
“I’m still a little bit but I’m definitely more comfortable being around those top guys because I could be playing them the next day,” he said. “I have to start thinking of them not as stars but people I can play against.”
That shift in mindset mirrors the transformation in his game. The tentative hopeful has been replaced by a player who backs his weapons, trusts his fitness and, on this evidence, relishes the big stage.
He is not the only Briton making strides in New York. Katie Boulter also moved into the second round, grinding past American wildcard Carol Young Suh Lee 6-4 3-6 6-0. For British tennis, these are the kind of early-round wins that build presence at the majors and ease the load on familiar names.
Built in Carolina, hardened on tour
Samuel’s rise has not followed the traditional British pathway. Like his 2019 Wimbledon boys’ doubles partner Arthur Fery – who surged up the rankings this year after a surprise run to the SW19 semi-finals – he has been shaped by the American collegiate system.
The former junior world number 57 headed to the University of South Carolina on his parents’ advice, combining his degree with a high-level tennis programme. There, he picked up an All American doubles title and learned to thrive in front of what he calls “super lively” college crowds.
That education showed in New York. Several of his South Carolina team-mates were in the stands for his first-round win, bringing the same noise and edge that defined those college ties. Samuel credited their “fighting energy” with helping him “get the job done” against Machac.
Family, though, had to follow the action from a distance this time. His parents were courtside through qualifying, but by the time the main draw began they had flown across the United States to settle his younger brother into his own American university adventure.
“My brother's just started university in America so they flew out to help him settle in, and I think my dad will fly back out for the second round,” Samuel said.
So the next chapter of this unlikely surge will unfold with a different kind of pressure: a seeded opponent across the net, a place in the third round on the line, and a father making the long trip back to see if this dream run can stretch just a little further.
