Kim Birrell, Maya Joint and James Duckworth advance on day two
Birrell plans to spend $265,000 pay day on upcoming wedding
An elated Kim Birrell plans on paying down her mortgage after surviving a match point and a restless night’s sleep to chalk up a life-changing US Open win in New York.
The gritty Gold Coaster wore down Croatian Petra Marcinko 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 to finally reach the second round after losing all three of her previous Flushing Meadows openers in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Young gun Maya Joint and veteran James Duckworth also advanced on a banner day two for the Australian contingent.
Joint rallied to take out higher-ranked Russian Liudmila Samsonova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 to continue her revival after a horror start to 2026, while Duckworth notched a mighty 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (10-8) comeback victory over 2026 French Open semi-finalist Matteo Arnaldi, the men’s 30th seed.
But a beaming Birrell stole the day in burying her first-round hoodoo after being forced to return to Court 7 following a nervy 14-hour rain delay.
“I woke up around 5am, like wide awake, ready to step out on court and my alarm wasn’t for a few more hours,” she said. “So I had to calm myself back down, and try to clear my mind and then managed to get back to sleep.”
After fending off her match point in the 12th game of the second set on Sunday, the 28-year-old was still trailing by a set and a mini break in the second-set tiebreaker before rallying to post one of the most satisfying wins of her career.
Birrell had lost in straight sets to Marcinko on grass at Eastbourne two months ago, having dropped the opening set 6-0 in their first meeting in February, which Birrell won in Texas.
“That’s crazy,” Birrell told AAP after earning a guaranteed pay day of $US190,000 ($A265,000) – or more if she topples Russian world No 19 Ekaterina Alexandrova next up.
Birrell and coach Matt Fraser are wedding planning for their upcoming big day in Kingscliff and said the massive cheque will go nicely on their honeymoon.
“Oh my gosh, I don’t think I’ll be spending it here,” Birrell said. “I’ll definitely save some of it. We’re getting married at the end of the year so that helps a lot and maybe I’ll buy some extra flowers.
“And we’ve got a mortgage. Yeah, the mortgage.”
Birrell is also slated to soar 16 spots to a career-high world No 55, displacing Talia Gibson as Australia’s new No 1.
