Rinky Hijikata, Alexei Popyrin and Ajla Tomljanovic lead the Aussie cost on day one at US Open 2024.
New York, USA, 26 August 2024 | Leigh Rogers
Alexei Popyrin leads a seven-strong Australian contingent competing on the opening day at US Open 2024.
The 25-year-old is seeded in a Grand Slam event for the primary time in his profession and arrives in New York with newfound self-belief after clinching his first ATP Masters 1000 singles title earlier this month.
“I’d say they’re greater than ever,” the No.28 seed mentioned of his confidence ranges.
Popyrin will begin as a heavy favorite towards Korean Soonwoo Kwon, who has solely received two tour-level matches this season and tumbled to world No.340 within the rankings. Nevertheless, the Aussie No.2 is cautious of the previous world No.52.
“Simply since you’ve obtained a quantity subsequent to your title, it doesn’t imply something,” Popyrin advised Stan Sport on the eve of his fifth US Open marketing campaign.
“Everyone on this draw is top quality, that’s why they’re right here. There’s no straightforward matches, that’s for positive.”
Fellow Australians Rinky Hijikata and Adam Walton each face higher-ranked opponents of their first-round matches within the males’s singles competitors.
The 23-year-old Hijikata, who superior to the fourth spherical at Flushing Meadows final yr and at present sits at a career-high world No.62, takes on former world No.21 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, whereas 25-year-old Walton makes his US Open debut towards world No.77 Alexandre Muller.
“I’m very excited,” world No.95 Walton mentioned forward of his assembly with the 27-year-old Frenchman. “(It’s) my first time ever coming to the grounds right here and to play one other important draw Grand Slam may be very particular to me.”
Ajla Tomljanovic, a quarterfinalist on the US Open in 2022, is one among 4 Australian ladies in motion on day one. The 31-year-old advised Stan Sport she is decided to “dwell within the now” when she meets American qualifier Ann Li.
“What occurred two years in the past looks like a very long time in the past,” mentioned the world No.118, who memorably defeated Serena Williams throughout her gorgeous 2022 run at Flushing Meadows.
Grand Slam debutante Maya Joint, a promising 18-year-old qualifier and the third youngest participant within the draw, meets skilled German Laura Siegemund, a two-time US Open doubles champion and the fourth oldest girl within the draw at age 36.
Fellow qualifier Priscilla Hon faces a frightening first-round project, with the 26-year-old from Brisbane pitted towards world No.2 and final yr’s finalist Aryna Sabalenka in a Louis Armstrong Stadium night time match.
In the meantime Kimberly Birrell, a 26-year-old from the Gold Coast who has additionally certified at a Grand Slam event for the primary time, opens play on Courtroom 12 towards in-form Croatian Donna Vekic. The Twenty fourth-seeded Vekic was a Wimbledon semifinalist and received a silver medal on the Paris 2024 Olympic Video games final month.
World No.147 Birrell did win their solely earlier assembly, triumphing in a three-set battle within the second spherical at Australian Open 2019.
The US Open is broadcast dwell in Australia on the 9 Community and Stan Sport, with protection starting from 1am AEST (from Tuesday 27 August)
Aussies in motion on day one:
Males’s singles, first spherical
Adam Walton (AUS) v Alexandre Muller (FRA), Courtroom 9, second match
[28] Alexei Popyrin (AUS) v Soonwoo Kwon (KOR), Courtroom 12, second match
Rinky Hijikata (AUS) v Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP), Courtroom 6, third match
Ladies’s singles, first spherical
[Q] Kimberly Birrell (AUS) v [24] Donna Vekic (CRO), Courtroom 12, first match (from 1am AEST)
[Q] Maya Joint (AUS) v Laura Siegemund (GER), Courtroom 14, second match
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) v [Q] Ann Li (USA), Courtroom 13, third match
[Q] Priscilla Hon (AUS) v [2] Aryna Sabalenka, Louis Armstrong Stadium, night time session, second match
> VIEW: Full US Open 2024 day one schedule
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