Alex de Minaur leads Australian charge amid staggering 45-year first for Aussie tennis at US Open

Alex de Minaur will lead Australia’s biggest contingent in almost half a century into this year’s US Open. A record six Aussies have successfully qualified for the final grand slam of the season in New York, meaning a whopping 20 Australians – 12 men and eight women – will be in action in the singles main draws at Flushing Meadows, the same number as 1979 when Aussie tennis great Evonne Goolagong Cawley led the charge.

De Minaur and fellow seed Alexei Popyrin are among 10 men in the top 100 who gained direct entry into the singles draw alongside women’s veterans Daria Saville and 2022 quarter-finalist Ajla Tomljanovic. Wildcards Tristan Schoolkate and Taylah Preston boosted the starting contingent to 14 before late-blooming Li Tu, teen Maya Joint, Arina Rodionova, Kim Birrell, Priscilla Hon and Destanee Aiava all won final-round qualifying matches on Friday to book their spots in the main draw.

It is the first time in US Open history that five Australian women have earned main draw berths through qualifying and the first time in 11 years Australia will have qualifiers in both the men’s and women’s singles at Flushing Meadows. Leading Aussie hope de Minaur, the 10th seed, will return to grand slam action after a hip injury ruled him out of his match against Djokovic in the Wimbledon quarter-final.

De Minaur then failed to recover in time to compete in the Olympic singles in Paris but will line up in the Ultimate Tennis Showdown event in New York this week as he looks to get some reps in ahead of the US Open. He is drawn to face World No.46 Marcos Giron in the first round. If he manages to get through the first round a qualifier will await him in the second round.

Aussies receive mixed US Open draws

With 12 Australian men in the main draw for the final slam of the year – which kicks off on Monday – there was perhaps an inevitability that two would be drawn against each other. And that was the case with Max Purcell drawn to take on fellow Aussie Aleksandar Vukic.

There was a mix of draws for the Aussies for the final major of the season. Tough opening-round matches await for Thanasi Kokkinakis, Chris O’Connell, James Duckworth and qualifier Li Tu who are all drawn seeded players.

Kokkinakis will face Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, while O’Connell, Duckworth and Tu are drawn against Chilean 26th seed Nicolas Jarry, Italian Flavio Cobolli and Carlos Alcaraz respectively. The draw has been kinder for Alexei Popyrin, who is seeded at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career.

The 25-year-old will play Korean Soonwoo Kwon, who has been struggling with a shoulder injury and has won just two tour-level matches this season. Rinky Hijikata – who made the fourth round at Flushing Meadows last year – kicks off his 2024 campaign against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, a former world No.21 who has twice reached the fourth round at the tournament.

While in the women’s, Daria Saville and Ajla Tomljanovic each face a qualifier in their opening matches. And 18-year-old Taylah Preston, who is making her US Open main-draw debut as a wildcard, will play the experienced Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

The qualifiers, however, have received horror draws. Destanee Aiava and Priscilla Hon both face top-five opponents, while fellow qualifier Kimberly Birrell meets Paris 2024 Olympic silver medallist Donna Vekic.

Australian contingent’s opening round matches:

Men’s singles:

(10) Alex de Minaur v Marcos Giron (USA)

Jordan Thompson v Constant Lestienne (FRA)

Chris O’Connell v (26) Nicolas Jarry (CHI)

Rinky Hijikata v Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP)

Aleksandar Vukic v Max Purcell

(28) Alexei Popyrin v Soonwoo Kwon (KOR)

Adam Walton v Alexandre Muller (FRA)

James Duckworth v (31) Flavio Cobolli (ITA)

Tristan Schoolkate v Taro Daniel (JPN)

Thanasi Kokkinakis v (11) Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)

Li Tu v (3) Carlos Alcaraz (ESP)

Tristan Schoolkate v Taro Daniel (JPN)

Women’s singles:

Daria Saville v Ena Shibahara (JPN)

Ajla Tomljanovic v Ann Li (USA)

Taylah Preston v (25) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)

Arina Rodionova v Wang Xinyu (CHN)

Maya Joint v Laura Siegemund (GER)

Kimberly Birrell v (24) Donna Vekic (CRO)

Destanee Aiava v (4) Elena Rybakina (KAZ)

Priscilla Hon v (2) Aryna Sabalenka