Four Australians secured their ticket into the US Open second round to commence the opening day at Flushing Meadows.
For the first time in his career, Alexei Popyrin headed into a Grand Slam event with a top 32 seed secured after his heroic efforts to claim his maiden Masters 1000 title in Montreal two weeks ago.
Broken once throughout the entire match, Popyrin flexed his muscle against South Korea's Soonwoo Kwon to win 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 in two hours and three minutes.
Despite a 50 per cent first serve statistic, the Olympian won 92 per cent of his first serve points and conceded 18 points on serve in a fairly routine performance.
“The first set was a little bit inconsistent, but once I got rhythm, it felt quite comfortable out there,” said Popyrin who faces Spaniard Pedro Martínez in round two. “I feel like I have a few things I need to improve on, but it was a good start.”
World No.72 Rinky Hijikata followed his compatriot into the second round after an impressive 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win against 25-year-old Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
“This is what you dream of,” Hijikata told Stan Sport after the match. “I feel like I’ve played some really good tennis at this tournament before and obviously had a great run last year, so I feel comfortable here.
“I’ve put in a lot of hard work this year and it hasn’t always been smooth sailing, so to come out here and put in a performance like that, I’m pretty proud of myself.”
The Sydneysider will look to match his best result at the US Open - achieved last year when he reached the round of 16.
Hijikata will face ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov in the next round. The Aussie was thrashed 6-0, 6-1 by the Bulgarian at the Montreal Masters nearly three weeks ago.
American-born Aussie Maya Joint recorded her first-ever Grand Slam singles victory to defeat veteran Laura Siegemund 6-4, 7-5.
Having survived the brutal stress of qualifying, Joint will prepare to meet former US Open finalist Madison Keys in the second round.
“It’s incredible. I didn’t expect to come this far, I’m lost for words,” the 18-year-old told Stan Sport. “I don’t know what to say. It feels great.”
The US Open continues to be a special hunting ground for Ajla Tomljanović as she defeated America's Ann Li 6-4, 6-4 despite recording 11 double faults.
Famous for her win against Serena Williams in New York two years ago which ended Williams' professional career, Tomljanović spoke after the match about her "gutsy" performance.
“This feels like it’s the semis, honestly,” Tomljanovic told Stan Sport.
“It’s really nice when a first round means this much. I think coming in, it meant a lot to pass the first round.
"It's hard to sometimes explain what’s going on internally, but today, it really was gutsy. And I’m just proud that, even not feeling my best, I managed to just put it together for two sets.”
In only her second win since making the final of Birmingham at the end of June, the 31-year-old will look to carry forward her momentum against Belgium's Elise Mertens in round two.
Elsewhere, two Aussie women fell short in the first round against experienced and talented opponents.
Qualifiers Kimberly Birrell and Priscilla Hon both lost in straight sets to Olympic silver medalist Donna Vekić and two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka respectively - ending their campaign.
However, the pair will not leave empty-handed, collecting $US 100,000 as a result of qualifying for the main draw.
Adam Walton will claim the same prize money after he failed to capitalise on a one set advantage against Frenchman Alexandre Müller, bowing out 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-3, 6-4.
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