Alex de Minaur wins US Open, Thanasi Kokkinakis beats Stefanos Tsitsipas, next match, Australians, results, Tristan Schoolkate, Jordan Thompson

After Thanasi Kokkinakis set the tone with a surprise victory over Stefanos Tsistsipas, Australia’s top player Alex de Minaur returned to winning form with a typically brave victory on an outstanding day for the country’s men in New York.

In his first singles match since retiring from the Wimbledon quarter-finals against Novak Djokovic due to a hip injury, the Australian was put to the test by American Marcos Giron. However, he showed grit under pressure at the start of the fourth set and won 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in 3 hours and 30 minutes.

The No. 10 seed took a step into the unknown in his opening match against a rival who had won three of the previous four encounters, knowing that although he was improving day by day, his hip injury had not yet been properly tested under the pressure of a Grand Slam match.

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The 25-year-old was not as sharp as he was in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year and struggled with his serve in the third set before regaining momentum in the fourth set after a long service game, trailing 2-1. But that’s to be expected.

The challenge for de Minaur, who played a doubles match at the Olympics, is to freshen up for his second-round match against Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen, who is more talented than his ranking suggests.

But after reaching the round of 16 last year, this is another step in the right direction for the Davis Cup leader on a day when fellow countrymen Kokkinakis, wildcard Tristan Schoolkate and Jordan Thompson had already progressed.

Max Purcell joined them in defeating fellow countryman Aleks Vukic 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 in 2 hours and 15 minutes and awaits the winner of the clash between 14th seeded American Tommy Paul and Lorenzo Sonego.

This means that after the victories of Alexei Popyrin and Rinky Hijikata on the first day, seven Australians have advanced to the second round.

On the second day, none of the Australians advanced; Ajla Tomljanovic and Maya Joint will play their second round matches on Wednesday in New York.

Kokkinakis was understandably delighted after his 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory in 3 hours and 54 minutes over two-time Grand Slam finalist Tsitsipas, later describing it as the biggest Grand Slam win of his career.

The triumph over the 11th seed was only his second ever in New York and his first since 2019, although Kokkinakis has only participated in five previous US Opens in the ten years since his Grand Slam debut in Melbourne in 2014.

Kokkinakis, who will play Zizou Bergs in the second round, was richly rewarded for both his powerful serve and his thunderous forehand. He was able to use these weapons well against the 11th seed in a highly entertaining but also extremely physical match. Both players required medical treatment at different stages.

“It’s a huge relief. I’m totally excited,” he said.

“I lost a few close games, but now I’m slowly on the winning side. After Montreal, I took a short break from the tournament and went to Bradenton, Florida. Anyone who has ever been there knows that there isn’t much to do there other than training.

“That was my goal, to prepare for moments like this and games like this, and (I’m) super happy that it paid off.”

Meanwhile, wildcard player Tristan Schoolkate from Western Australia made a tremendous comeback, defeating Japanese Taro Daniel 4:6, 4:6, 6:4, 7:6 (6), 6:4 in 3 hours and 49 minutes.

The 23-year-old, who used crowdfunding at the start of his professional career to raise enough money to take part in lower-category tournaments, raised his arms in joy in front of the roaring crowd on Court 16 after winning his Grand Slam debut.

The aggressive all-round player, who is ranked 193rd in the world and has earned just over $500,000 in his career so far, will earn at least $200,000 for reaching the second round in New York.

“It’s great. First of all, I have the opportunity to play. Of course I’m grateful for that. And I hope I can take another step forward and continue like this,” he said.

“Things have changed a little bit. I started playing on my own when I was 18, and when I got into the junior events, I had to create GoFundMe pages to pay for things. My family doesn’t come from a wealthy family.

“This is by far the biggest check I’ve ever received playing professionally. Hopefully I can keep going like this and it’ll keep getting bigger, but it’s all going towards my tennis. The prize money looks like a big amount, but you have a lot of expenses along the way. This is obviously great and will help me progress.”

He faces an extremely tough challenge in the second round, as he will face the promising Czech player Jakub Mensik, who swept the 19th seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. The winner of this duel will play Kokkinakis in the third round if he advances.

Jordan Thompson, who missed his goal of being seeded in the rankings for the first time at a Grand Slam, made a much easier progress by outclassing Frenchman Constant Lestienne 6-1, 6-3, 6-2, earning him a second-round match against Polish star Hubert Hurkacz.