Kim Birrell Triumphs at US Open After Rain Delay
Kim Birrell stared down a match point, a sleepless night and her own history at Flushing Meadows – and finally walked off a US Open winner.
The 28-year-old Queenslander dragged herself through a rain-delayed, momentum-swinging scrap to beat Croatian Petra Marcinko 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 and reach the second round in New York for the first time in four attempts.
A match point, a rain delay, and a reset
On Sunday night, Birrell looked in deep trouble. She trailed by a set, was under pressure again in the second, and faced match point in the 12th game. She survived that crisis, but the weather brought another. Rain forced the players from court 7 and left Birrell stewing through a nervy 14-hour delay, still behind in the contest and with a mini break against her in the tiebreak.
She came back different.
Marcinko, who had beaten Birrell comfortably on grass at Eastbourne two months earlier, initially picked up where she left off. The Croat’s heavy ball and early strike had earned her the opening set and control of the breaker. Birrell refused to go quietly this time. Point by point, she clawed back the deficit, turned the tiebreak around 7-4 and suddenly the match flipped.
The pressure finally told in the decider. Birrell, more resilient than flashy, began to wear Marcinko down, extending rallies, forcing errors, and leaning on the experience of their two previous meetings – including her comeback win in Texas in February after losing a 6-0 opening set. Once she grabbed the decisive break in the third, she did not let go.
From a point away from another first-round exit to a 6-3 closing set, Birrell had finally cracked the code at Flushing Meadows after opening-round losses in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Big reward, bigger test
Her breakthrough brings both a payoff and a challenge. Birrell is guaranteed $US190,000 (about $265,000) for reaching the second round and now earns a shot at Russian world No.19 Ekaterina Alexandrova on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).
It is the sort of assignment that can redefine a campaign. Beat a top-20 opponent at a Slam, and the entire season suddenly looks different.
She also becomes the second Australian woman into the second round, following rising talent Taylah Preston, who had already advanced on day one.
Vukic falls short in marathon finish
While Birrell turned her delay into an advantage, Aleksandar Vukic could not do the same.
Resuming his own weather-hit five-setter against Rei Sakamoto, Vukic came back to court already down a break deep in the deciding set. The Japanese player shut the door with ruthless efficiency, rattling through six straight points on serve without conceding any to close out a 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win.
One Australian dug out of a hole; another found his already too deep.
Aussies lining up on day two
The Australian presence is only just building in New York.
Alexei Popyrin faces a dangerous assignment against former semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov, who has been forced to qualify this year after an injury lay-off but still carries serious pedigree on hard courts.
Rinky Hijikata steps into an even steeper climb, taking on third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in a matchup that will test every part of his game.
James Duckworth meets Italian Matteo Arnaldi, a player on the rise and no stranger to big-stage battles, while Maya Joint takes on the much-fancied Liudmila Samsonova in a tough draw for the young Australian.
Then comes the man carrying the heaviest expectations. World No.7 Alex de Minaur opens his title push on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) against Italian qualifier Andrea Guerrieri, starting a campaign that many in Australian tennis hope can run deep into the second week.
For now, though, the story belongs to Kim Birrell – a player who left court 7 having done something she had never managed in New York before. The question now is whether that first win is just a breakthrough, or the start of something far bigger this fortnight.
