Eight Australians have advanced to the second round in the US Open men's singles competition for the first time since 1976.
This incredible achievement adds to an ever-growing list of records falling at Flushing Meadows this year, which includes the 45-year high of 12 Australians featuring in the men's singles event.
"Australian tennis is thriving at the top end at the minute," acknowledged world No.32 Jordan Thompson after recording his most comprehensive US Open victory earlier today.
Thompson wasn't the only Australian celebrating a major individual milestone in New York today.
Thanasi Kokkinakis posted his best-ever Grand Slam win, upsetting world No.11 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the opening round, while 10th seed Alex de Minaur, the highest-seeded Australian man at the tournament in 19 years, made a winning return from injury.
Wildcard Tristan Schoolkate proved his future his bright, scoring a first Grand Slam main-draw victory. The 23-year-old clawed back from a two-set deficit for the first time in his career to defeat Japan's Taro Daniel, a player eight years his senior and ranked 105 places higher.
Chris O'Connell fought past world No.26 Nicolas Jarry, scoring a four-set victory against the seeded Chilean. This is the world No.87's biggest-ever win in New York.
For the fifth consecutive major tournament, the first round also featured an all-Australian battle. Max Purcell took the honours this time, emerging triumphant against fellow Sydneysider Aleksandar Vukic.
Meanwhile, Rinky Hijikata, who currently sits at career-high ranking of world No.62, outclassed dangerous Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina yesterday to earn his second-round spot and world No.28 Alexei Popyrin made an encouraging start in his first Grand Slam as a seeded player.
| EIGHT IS GREATEight Australians advancing to the second roundin a US Open men's singles draw | |
| 1976 | Ray Ruffels, Ross Case, Alvin Gardiner, John Alexander, Kim Warwick, Geoff Masters, Barry Phillips Moore, Allan Stone |
| 2024 | Alex de Minaur, Alexei Popyrin, Jordan Thompson, Rinky Hijikata, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Chris O'Connell, Max Purcell, Tristan Schoolkate |
Two Australians, Ajla Tomljanovic and 18-year-old qualifier Maya Joint, have also progressed to the second round in the women's singles competition.
The last time a total of 10 Australians reached the US Open second round in singles, across both the men's and women's singles draws, was 1979.
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