Aussies Face Challenges at Flushing Meadows: Rain and Upsets
For the third straight day, the weather turned spoiler in New York. Play at Flushing Meadows stalled for a couple of hours as another band of rain drifted across the site, leaving players, fans and officials in that familiar holding pattern – waiting, watching, refreshing the radar.
On the outside courts, the drizzle wasn’t heavy enough to clear the stands immediately, but it was relentless enough to raise doubts. Players were initially told to stay put. Minutes later, the instruction flipped: pack up. Like Melbourne, the two show courts are protected and would carry on, but for much of the complex the day suddenly looked very long.
Kasatkina rocked early as Badosa storms through
Daria Kasatkina felt the shift first.
She had just begun to settle in the second set, starting to find some rhythm, when the conditions and the scoreboard turned against her. Paula Badosa had already ripped through the opener, 6-? in just 23 minutes, breaking to love for 3-1 and never really loosening her grip.
From the commentary box for Nine, Jelena Dokic nailed the dynamic: Badosa was stepping in and attacking from the first ball, while Kasatkina needed to “weather the storm” and drag rallies out to find her chances. The problem? The errors arrived before the rallies did. Kasatkina simply couldn’t extend points long enough to make Badosa uncomfortable.
Whether the rain delay helps or hurts Kasatkina is anyone’s guess. She looked better in that second set patch, but momentum in this match has been fragile, and the scoreboard unforgiving.
Schoolkate serves up a statement
On a different court, under the same grey skies, Tristan Schoolkate produced the kind of performance that makes a career week feel possible.
The West Australian powered into the second round with a four-set win over American Nishesh Basavareddy, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. The numbers behind it were eye-catching: 25 aces, an 82 per cent first-serve percentage, and a razor-thin edge in total points, 121-119.
This wasn’t a cruise. Basavareddy actually won more points for large stretches and still finished only two behind overall. Schoolkate, though, kept finding a big delivery when he needed it most, leaning on that serve in the tight moments of each set. For his reward, he pockets just under $266,000 in prize money for reaching round two – a serious injection for a player still building his place on tour.
Earlier in the match, the serving clinic was already on display: 18 aces and 83 per cent first serves as he moved ahead two sets to one. Even then, the scoreboard told a curious story – Basavareddy led 97-93 in total points at that stage. Schoolkate simply owned the crucial ones.
Sweeny’s upset bid ends in retirement drama
On an adjacent court, Dane Sweeny stood on the brink of the biggest win of his career. Ranked outside the top 100, facing a man who sat at No.30 in the world as recently as June, he had already done the heavy lifting.
Sweeny led Corentin Moutet two sets to love, 7-6 (4), 6-4, and had just surged to 3-0 in the third when the match took a jarring turn. Moutet walked to the net, offered his hand, and retired.
The Frenchman’s right forearm was heavily strapped, and moments after the handshake he buried his face in his towel. There had been animated discussion between Moutet and the chair umpire earlier; from courtside it sounded as though he believed he had requested a physio earlier in the contest and been refused, though the exact exchange was hard to make out.
On the stats sheet, this never looked like a walkover until the final act. Moutet had five aces to Sweeny’s one. He had his chances on return. Sweeny’s edge came in the clutch: four breaks of serve to three and a modest advantage in total points, 92-83. He won the points that mattered, then watched the contest end not with a final forehand, but with a handshake and a hint of controversy.
One point, though, captured the Australian’s day. Mid-rally in the second set, Sweeny slipped, hit the deck, and still managed to recover and feather a drop shot winner. It was improvised, gutsy, and fearless – exactly the tone of his performance.
Kokkinakis struck down again
Not every Australian story on the day carried that kind of uplift.
Thanasi Kokkinakis, a perennial crowd favourite and one of the sport’s hard-luck tales, withdrew only hours before his scheduled first-round match. The 30-year-old has been wrestling with an ankle issue, the latest in a long line of injuries that have stalked his career.
At the Australian Open earlier this year it was his shoulder that betrayed him. This time, the ankle forced him out before he could even walk on court to face rising star Rafael Jodar. Another chance gone, another slam campaign cut short before it began.
As the rain continues to toy with the schedule and the outside courts sit idle, the Australian contingent has already lived a full day: a breakthrough, an upset tinged with frustration, and yet another cruel twist for one of their most beloved players. The question now is whether this stop-start, storm-hit tournament will give them the platform to build on it, or sweep away their momentum as quickly as the clouds roll in.
