Thanasi Kokkinakis and Chris O’Connell claimed two scalps on another memorable day for Australian tennis stars at the US Open in New York.
Fan favourite Kokkinakis roared with emotion and received a standing ovation on The Grandstand after beating two-time Grand Slam finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-3 7-5 for the biggest Grand Slam victory of his up-and-down career.
Incredibly, the four-set victory over the No. 11 seed was only Kokkinakis’ second Open victory in nine injury-plagued years.
“Super happy, super motivated,” said the 28-year-old.
Kokkinakis’ reward is a golden opportunity to finally achieve a grand slam in a wide-open pocket of the board.
He will next face unseeded Nuno Borges, with Tristan Schoolkate a potential third-round opponent following the West Australian’s decisive win over Taro Daniel.
Alex de Minaur has vowed to continue fighting through the pain in his quest for a grand slam.
Playing his first match in seven weeks, the injured and underrated de Minaur dug deep to become one of 10 Australians through to the second round with a 6-3 6-4 5-7 6-4 victory over American Marcos Giron.
“Australian tennis is thriving,” said de Minaur after revealing the full extent of the despair and frustration he has endured since his Wimbledon quarter-final withdrawal against Novak Djokovic.
The world number 10 said a series of different diagnoses had left him in limbo.
“Mentally, it’s tough when you’re told a certain thing, and then all of a sudden you go from three weeks to eight weeks (out),” de Minaur said.
“Then at one point I was told the season would end with surgery, so there were a lot of different opinions and plans that were thrown around.”
De Minaur’s next test comes against Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen on Thursday (Friday AEST).
Schoolkate justified her wildcard entry with a solid 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 victory in her long-awaited grand slam main draw debut.
Tristan Schoolkate in action against Taro Daniel as the Australian advances to the second round of the US Open. (Getty Images: Al Bello)
The 23-year-old world number 193 has earned a chance to advance to the second round against Czech Jakub Mensik, not to mention a potentially life-changing payday worth at least $140,000 ($207,000).
Jordan Thompson earlier recovered from the disappointment of missing out on a seeding spot to crush Constant Lestienne 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 in less than two hours.
The world number 32 did his best to escape the scorching heat, breaking the Frenchman six times without losing serve once.
Thompson will face world number 7 Hubert Hurkacz for a place in the round of 32.
Max Purcell progressed with a bittersweet 7-5 6-4 6-3 victory over fellow Sydney native Aleksandar Vukic, while O’Connell beat 26th seed Nicolas Jarry of Chile 6-4 6-4 4-6 6-3 to join the party.
Late qualifier Li Tu delivered, producing the best tennis of his life in the evening’s match at Arthur Ashe Stadium against Spanish prodigy Carlos Alcaraz.
But the 28-year-old had to settle for the best of supporting roles in a thrilling 6-2 4-6 6-3 6-1 defeat to the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion and four-time Grand Slam champion.
Day one winners Alexei Popyrin, Rinky Hijikata, Ajla Tomljanovic and 18-year-old qualifier Maya Joint will be in the game to continue the Australian revolution on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).
But women’s wildcard Taylah Preston’s international Grand Slam debut lasted just 61 minutes in a 6-2 6-0 first-round defeat to Russian top seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Daria Saville’s comeback from a foot injury ended in utter frustration, with the Australian number one losing 6-3 4-6 7-6 (10-6) to Japanese qualifier Ena Shibahara in a three-hour and 16-minute cliffhanger.
Destanee Aiava’s run from qualifying ended with a gutsy 6-1 7-6 (7-1) defeat to fourth seed Elena Rybakina after the outsider had three set points in the second set.
James Duckworth and Arina Rodionova also suffered valiant first-round defeats.
Results of the second day of the US Open in Australia
Thanasi Kokkinakis def. Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
Tristan Schoolkate def. Taro Daniel 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4
Alex de Minaur def. Marcos Giron 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
Jordan Thompson def. Constant Lestienne 6-1, 6-3, 6-2
Max Purcell def. Aleksandar Vukic 7-5, 6-4, 6-3
Ena Shibahara beats. Daria Saville 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (10-6)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beats. Taylah Preston 6-2, 6-0
Elena Rybakina def. Destanee Aiava 6-1, 7-6 (7-1)
Wang Xinyu beats. Arina Rodionova 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
Flavio Cobolli beats. James Duckworth 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
Chris O’Connell def. Nicolas Jarry 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
Carlos Alcaraz beats. Read You 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
PAA
