Dane Sweeny's Stunning US Open Upset

Dane Sweeny didn’t just win a tennis match in New York. He tore up the script.

The 25-year-old Australian wildcard, barely 170cm tall and ranked more than 100 places below Lorenzo Musetti, produced the performance of his life to dump the 14th seed out of the US Open in four sets: 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.

On paper, this was a mismatch. On court, it became a mugging.

Sweeny flips the contest on its head

Musetti, a dual grand slam semi-finalist and one of the sport’s most polished shot-makers, looked in control early. He took the opening set 6-3 and appeared ready to settle into the role of ruthless seed dispatching an overmatched wildcard.

Then Sweeny hit back. Hard.

The Australian tore through the second set 6-1, ripping into returns, rushing the net and forcing the Italian to defend in the New York heat. The momentum didn’t just shift, it swung violently. Musetti suddenly found himself chasing, Sweeny dictating rallies and dragging him from corner to corner.

By the third set, the Italian was in visible trouble. Sweeny broke twice to surge 3-0 ahead, running Musetti ragged until the 14th seed called for a medical time-out. The world No.14 clawed one break back but never truly recovered his rhythm, venting repeatedly towards his courtside box as Sweeny kept his foot down.

The Australian, right elbow heavily iced after his first-round win, threw himself around the court with abandon, diving at the net in the style of Boris Becker and coming up with acrobatic winning volleys that electrified the crowd. The scoreline tightened only briefly; the grip Sweeny had on the match did not.

He closed out the third set 6-2, then repeated the dose in the fourth, bullying Musetti into submission and sealing a place in the last 32 of a grand slam for the first time in his career.

For that, he banks at least $US290,000, a career-best ranking of at least No.115, and something even more valuable in New York: belief.

"I'm just grateful to be even able to compete in grand slams. The tennis journey is such a rollercoaster," Sweeny said. "And to soak up the atmosphere and get a win, a couple of wins, in front of this crowd, is awesome."

Next up is another Italian, world No.22 Luciano Darderi, on Saturday (AEST). The stage only gets bigger from here.

Schoolkate’s run ends in the heat

For a while, it looked like Sweeny might not be the only Australian surprise packet marching into the third round.

Tristan Schoolkate, who had fought his way through qualifying, struck first against Flavio Cobolli, taking the opening set 6-3 and riding a wave of confidence in the brutal New York summer conditions.

Then the French Open runner-up showed why he came in as the fifth seed.

Cobolli tightened up his game, raised his level on the big points and gradually wore Schoolkate down, turning the match around to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 after two hours and 41 minutes. The Australian qualifier never went away, pushing hard in the fourth, but Cobolli’s class and composure under pressure told in the end.

Schoolkate leaves with a signature run and a taste of the main-stage chaos. Cobolli marches on.

Popyrin falls short in tiebreak tension

On another court, Alexei Popyrin tried to rekindle the magic of two years ago, when he stunned Novak Djokovic in the third round in New York.

He started like a man intent on doing just that.

Popyrin stormed through the first set 6-2 against Chilean 25th seed Alejandro Tabilo, striking cleanly and controlling the baseline exchanges. The match then turned into a nerve test, and Tabilo passed it twice.

The Chilean edged two crucial tiebreaks, 7-4 and 7-3, to flip the contest. Popyrin suddenly trailed two sets to one despite having made a strong start. With the momentum on his side, Tabilo pressed home the advantage, breaking away in the fourth to close out a 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 victory.

The win likely earns Tabilo a third-round showdown with German top seed Alexander Zverev. Popyrin, once again, finds his New York campaign halted just short of the last 32.

De Minaur waits in the wings

While Sweeny grabbed the headlines, another Australian seed prepared to step into the heat.

Sixth seed Alex de Minaur was scheduled to face Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp on The Grandstand after Schoolkate’s match, looking to reinforce his own status as the nation’s standard-bearer.

On a day that began with an unheralded wildcard flooring a top-20 star, the question hung over Flushing Meadows: how many more shocks does this Australian contingent have in it?