Kim Birrell's Thrilling US Open Victory Changes Everything

Kim Birrell walked off Court 7 with more than a win. She walked off with a mortgage payment, a honeymoon upgrade and the kind of hard-earned belief that only comes from staring down a match point at the US Open and refusing to blink.

The 28-year-old from the Gold Coast finally cracked the second round in New York, outlasting Croatian Petra Marcinko 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in a bruising, nerve-shredding contest that spanned a 14-hour rain delay and a sleepless night.

She had lost in the first round here in 2023, 2024 and 2025. This time, the script changed.

Sleepless, soaked, and still standing

The chaos started on Sunday. Birrell faced match point in the 12th game of the second set before the rain swept in and pushed the conclusion of the match into Monday. That left her with a restless night and a mind racing ahead of schedule.

“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.”

When she returned to Court 7, she was still in trouble. Down a set, down a mini-break in the second-set tiebreak, and facing an opponent who had thrashed her in straight sets on grass at Eastbourne two months earlier.

The pressure finally told – on Marcinko.

Birrell dug in, turned the breaker around 7-4, and from there began to drag the match into her kind of fight. Longer rallies. Heavier legs. More questions asked of the 18-year-old Croatian’s patience and resilience.

By the third set, Birrell was the one dictating. She broke, held, and refused to let the door open again, closing out the decider 6-3 to complete one of the most satisfying victories of her career.

“That’s crazy,” she told AAP after sealing a guaranteed pay day of $US190,000 ($A265,000), with the promise of more if she can upset Russian world No 19 Ekaterina Alexandrova in the next round.

From Court 7 to the bank

This win changes more than her ranking.

Birrell and her coach Matt Fraser are in the middle of planning their wedding in Kingscliff later this year. The cheque from New York has arrived right on cue.

“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.”

Her run in New York is set to launch her 16 spots up the rankings to a career-high world No 55, displacing Talia Gibson as Australia’s new No 1. For a player who has fought through injuries, early exits and the grind of the tour, the symbolism is as big as the cheque.

A big day for the Aussies

Birrell’s comeback set the tone on a banner day for the Australian contingent.

On the women’s side, 20-year-old Maya Joint produced a statement win of her own, recovering from a slow start to topple higher-ranked Russian Liudmila Samsonova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. Joint had lost 13 of 14 matches since January, her season threatening to unravel before it truly began. The American hardcourt swing has revived her, and now she has earned a shot at ninth seed Elina Svitolina.

On the men’s side, veteran James Duckworth delivered a milestone of his own. Turning 35 in January, he finally completed the set: round two at all four grand slams.

Duckworth came from a set down to topple 2026 French Open semi-finalist and 30th seed Matteo Arnaldi 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (10-8). The match tightened in a tense fourth-set tiebreak, but Duckworth’s experience and composure carried him over the line. He now faces China’s Yibing Wu with a place in the last 32 on offer.

WA rising star Taylah Preston had already booked her spot in the second round, meaning four Australians – Birrell, Joint, Duckworth and Preston – are all still alive in the singles draws.

Not everyone made it through. Aleksandar Vukic resumed his own weather-disrupted marathon against Rei Sakamoto but fell just short, losing 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 3-6 6-4 in a draining five-setter.

A new No 1, and a new chapter

For Birrell, this was more than just breaking a first-round curse at Flushing Meadows. She had history with Marcinko: a 6-0 opening set to the Croatian in their first meeting back in February in Texas, a match Birrell eventually won, and then that straight-sets defeat at Eastbourne.

This time, she walked away with the head-to-head edge, the ranking jump, and the knowledge that she can win when the stakes are highest and the conditions messiest.

She also walked away as Australia’s new standard-bearer in the women’s game.

Next comes Alexandrova, a clean striker with serious firepower and a top-20 ranking. It is the kind of test that once might have intimidated Birrell.

Now? She has a mortgage to chip away at, a wedding to plan, and a career that suddenly feels like it’s moving in the right direction again.

Court 7 was just the start.