Kim Birrell's US Open Breakthrough: From Match Point Down to Victory

Kim Birrell wakes up in New York with a match point against her and a 14‑hour rain delay still hanging over the tournament. By late afternoon, she walks off Court 7 with her first ever US Open main-draw win and a place in the second round. That is how quickly a career narrative can shift.

The 28-year-old Queenslander, long stuck on the outside looking in at Flushing Meadows, finally cracked the code, grinding past Croatian Petra Marcinko 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in a stop-start, nerve-fraying first-round battle.

From match point down to breakthrough

On Sunday night, Birrell stood a point from defeat in the 12th game of the second set, already a set down and struggling to contain Marcinko’s weight of shot. The rain arrived before the contest could be settled. The delay stretched to 14 hours, long enough to disturb sleep and invite doubt.

She came back to Court 7 on Monday (Tuesday AEST) still trailing by a set and a mini-break in the tiebreak. The Croat had the scoreboard, the history and the tempo. Birrell had to manufacture belief.

Point by point, she did. The tiebreak swung. Marcinko blinked. Birrell refused to. When she ripped through the final stages of the breaker, the match flipped with it. The third set belonged to the Australian, who wore her opponent down with heavier legs and a lighter mind, closing out the decider 6-3 to end a personal hoodoo at this tournament.

Until now, the US Open had offered her nothing but frustration: three visits to the main draw, three first-round exits in 2023, 2024 and 2025. This time, she stayed in the fight long enough to change that storyline.

History, revenge and a sizeable reward

There was a little history to rewrite as well. Marcinko had beaten Birrell comfortably on grass at Eastbourne two months ago, taking that one in straight sets. Their first meeting, in Texas in February, had gone Birrell’s way despite a 6-0 opening set to the Croat. This latest chapter felt like a distilled version of their rivalry: wild swings, momentum shifts, and Birrell ultimately finding a way.

The reward is significant. She now faces Russian world No.19 Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second round, a high-class test and an opportunity to push deeper into the draw. The win also locks in a guaranteed $US190,000 ($265,000) payday, with the promise of more if she can back it up on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).

For a player who has had to scrap for every main-draw chance, that combination of ranking points, confidence and cash is no small haul.

Mixed fortunes for the Aussies

While Birrell pushed through, Aleksandar Vukic could not quite drag his own epic over the line. His five-setter against Rei Sakamoto also fell victim to the weather. When play resumed, Sakamoto already held a break deep in the fifth. The Japanese player then slammed the door, rattling through six straight points on serve without conceding one to finish a 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win.

So the Australian ledger on day one shows Birrell advancing and Vukic out, with more to come.

Taylah Preston had already set the tone as the first Australian to move through, and now the focus turns to a packed day-two schedule.

Alexei Popyrin steps into a fascinating clash with former US Open semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov, who has had to qualify this year after injury troubles. Rinky Hijikata draws third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, a daunting assignment against one of the ball-strikers of the tournament.

James Duckworth meets Italian Matteo Arnaldi, while Maya Joint faces Liudmila Samsonova, one of the more dangerous unseeded names in the women’s field.

And then there is Alex de Minaur. The world No.7 opens his title quest on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) against Italian qualifier Andrea Guerrieri, carrying Australian hopes at the sharp end of the draw.

For Birrell, though, the equation is suddenly simpler. The first-round curse is gone. The match point has been survived. The rain has cleared. Now comes Alexandrova and the question that always follows a breakthrough: how far can this run really go?