Storm Hunter's Historic US Open Journey Against Marta Kostyuk

Storm Hunter has stared down far worse than a seeded opponent in round one of a major. That is why the prospect of opening her US Open campaign against French Open and Wimbledon semifinalist Marta Kostyuk barely raises an eyebrow.

The 32-year-old Australian has just forced tennis statisticians into overdrive. By qualifying for the main draw at Flushing Meadows for the first time, Hunter has become the first active Australian player to successfully qualify for all four grand slams – a rare, hard-earned badge of honour in the sport.

It has not been a gentle stroll through New York.

Hunter had to beat close friend and compatriot Maddison Inglis in her opening qualifying match, then survive two match points in her second. She waited through a 24-hour weather delay before clinching a third straight sudden-death victory to finally punch her ticket into the main draw.

“This is the last slam on my list to tick off to get through qualies and coming in I hadn’t played many singles matches in the last few months so, yeah, it feels amazing,” Hunter said.

That word – “last” – carries extra weight. Hunter missed more than a year after rupturing her Achilles tendon, a brutal injury that can end careers and certainly tests resolve. Now she returns to the US Open main draw for the first time since 2023, a late bloomer refusing to accept the usual timelines.

Her prize is brutal: 11th seed Kostyuk on day one, a player riding the confidence of back-to-back semifinal runs at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

“Yeah, it’s tough,” Hunter admitted, the former world No.1 doubles specialist under no illusions about the scale of the task. “She’s obviously having a really good year. She’s a great player, very physical with the way she plays and a really good competitor.

“So it’s going to be tough. Obviously a very quick turnaround from playing qualifiers to my first round tomorrow, but I’m feeling good and she’s the one who’s under all the pressure to play against me and I have practised with her before.

I know what her level is and I know it’s going to be a challenge, but I’m up for a challenge. It’s going to be fun. I’m going to enjoy it.

“There’s been lots of times in my career I didn’t think I’d be back playing at this level, so to be back in the main draw of a slam is awesome, and I’m just going to go out and enjoy it and give it a good crack.”

It is classic Hunter: honest, unvarnished, and competitive to the last point. She knows Kostyuk brings heavy artillery and relentless intensity. She also knows that, after everything – the injury, the grind through qualifying, the years spent mostly in doubles – the pressure sits on the Ukrainian’s shoulders, not hers.

Australian charge in New York

Hunter is one of six Australians on court on Monday in New York, part of a quietly ambitious contingent looking to make early noise.

• Kim Birrell faces Petra Marcinko, while Talia Gibson also meets Croatian opposition in seasoned campaigner Donna Vekic.
• Rising talent Taylah Preston takes on American Alycia Parks in a clash that will test her nerve and firepower on one of the sport’s loudest stages.
• On the men’s side, Adam Walton meets China’s Yibing Wu, and Aleksandar Vukic lines up against Japan’s Rei Sakamoto as the only Australian men in first-round action on day one.

Sixth seed Alex de Minaur, the standard-bearer of Australian tennis, begins his US Open campaign on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST), carrying genuine second-week expectations.

For Hunter, though, the story is more personal than rankings and seedings. It is about a 32-year-old qualifier walking back into a grand slam main draw with a repaired Achilles, a rare place in the record books, and a willingness to swing freely against one of the hottest players in the game.

The stage is set. The odds are clear. The question now is whether this late-blooming Australian can turn a historic qualifying run into something even bigger in New York.