Jordan Thompson has won the biggest match of his career, claiming a first top-10 win in Grand Slam tennis against world No.7 Hubert Hurkacz to qualify for the third round at Flushing Meadows.
The 30-year-old made it look like a routine day at the office, running his Polish opponent ragged around the court in a 7-6(2), 6-1, 7-5 straight sets victory - making a statement.
Hurkacz will rue missed opportunities, failing to convert a 5-2 lead in the first set and a set point in the third.
However, Thompson's never-say-die Aussie spirit helped the Sydneysider cross the finish line in style.
“That was pretty special. Nice crowd, tough conditions and playing a top-10 opponent. I don’t think I could have played much better," Thompson told Stan Sport after the match.
Thompson will face Italian Matteo Arnaldi in the round of 32, and the Aussie spoke about the upcoming matchup.
“It’s an opportunity for both of us, there’s no denying that,” he said. “He’s been playing good tennis, he made semis at a Masters a few weeks ago (in Montreal), so it will [be] another tough battle.”
After describing his recent hip injury as neither "amazing" nor "horrible," during a post-match interview in his first round win, Alex de Minaur seemed comfortable against Finland's Otto Virtanen, untroubled in a 7-5, 6-1, 7-6(3) triumph.
The result means the 25-year-old notched up his sixth third round appearance at the US Open, where he will next play Dan Evans for a place in the round of 16.
“Didn’t have my best of starts. He’s a tricky opponent,” De Minaur admitted. “He takes the racquet out of [your hand]. He started off at a very high level.
“I took a while to get into the match. I just stayed with it, stayed positive. I told myself I would have chances and happy that I was able to turn it around.”
The Olympian opened up on his ongoing struggle with a hip complaint suffered at Wimbledon, which is still not 100 per cent.
“I feel something there. It’s obviously not as fluid as I would like to be moving out there. I’m missing on my sliding from side to side, which I can’t really do at the moment, but we keep on going.”
Former world No.53 Christopher O'Connell has set up a showdown with top seed Jannik Sinner after prevailing against another Italian in qualifier Mattia Bellucci 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in two hours and 48 minutes.
The 30-year-old must bring the same dominant service performance against Sinner, not facing one break chance until the sixth game of set three.
“Belluci has been on the rise this year and playing some really good tennis recently,” O’Connell told Stan Sport. “I think he is a very talented player, I trained with him a month ago, so I knew I was up against a quality player.
“But I knew if stuck to what I do best and just play solid throughout the best-of-five sets, then I thought I could get the job done.”
Speaking about the matchup against the world No.1, O'Connell will relish the occasion, saying: “He’s one of the biggest names in tennis, so it’s going to be awesome."
Thanasi Kokkinakis was still on cloud nine after his sensational win against two-time Grand Slam finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas, struggling to get a foothold in his match against Nuno Borges, going down 6-4, 7-5, 7-5. Meanwhile, Max Purcell was forced to retire one game into the third set in his second round encounter with 14th seed Tommy Paul.
But wildcard Tristan Schoolkate suffered the most devastating loss from an Aussie stance, having let a two-set lead fade away as he succumbed to a five-set defeat against Jakub Menšík, requiring a 10-point tiebreak in the decider.
The 23-year-old was one point away from the third round of his maiden main draw debut at a Grand Slam, but will take massive confidence from the past few days.
"It’s a great first experience I think for me... it obviously sucks to go down today, but I’m very happy with my efforts and proud of how far I came, and how hard I tried," Schoolkate said.
In the men's doubles, Aussie Matt Ebden and partner Rohan Bopanna as well as Rinky Hijikata and Britain's Lloyd Glasspool were the only victors for the Aussies in the first round.
Kokkinakis' day went from bad to worse, experiencing a straight sets defeat against Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Metkić, while John Peers and Jamie Murray could not cross the finish with a one-set lead, losing 6-4, 7-6(6), 7-6(11), committing 15 double faults between the pair.
Olympic gold medalist Ebden also featured in the mixed doubles alongside Wimbledon singles champion Barbora Krejčíková, as the fourth seeds dropped four games against Chan Hao-ching and Austin Krajicek.
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