Rain delays Australian players at US Open, Preston advances

Tennis

Rain has forced play on outside courts to be suspended on the opening day of the US Open. (Getty Images: Matthew Stockman)

In short:

Kim Birrell and Aleksandar Vukic have been forced off the court due to rain, with their first-round US Open matches hanging in the balance.

Taylah Preston has advanced to the second round of the women's singles at the US Open for the first time.

Qualifier Storm Hunter was defeated by 11th seed Marta Kostyuk, breakout Aussie Talia Gibson went down in three sets to Donna Vekic, and Adam Walton lost to China's Yibing Wu.

Kim Birrell and Aleksandar Vukic have been forced off the court due to rain, with their first-round US Open matches hanging in the balance.

Taylah Preston was the only victorious Australian on the first day at Flushing Meadows, with Birell and Vukic needing to wait until tomorrow to finish their tense matches.

Birrell, who lost the opening set to Croatia's Petra Marčinko, was locked in a tiebreaker in the second set when play was suspended.

The tiebreaker was locked at 3-3 when play was called off for the outside courts just after 8pm, local time, with Birrell needing to win to send the first-round match into a third and deciding set.

In the men's singles, fellow Australian Vukic was nearing the end of a five-set thriller when rain halted play.

Vukic, the world number 96, came from behind twice in the match to force a deciding set in New York against Japan's Rei Sakamoto.

Vukic is down a break in the fifth set, with Sakamoto, the world number 157, walking off the court with a 3-4 lead.

Wildcard Preston gets first grand slam win outside Australia

Taylah Preston is the first Australian into the second round of the US Open, claiming a straight-sets win over American Alycia Parks.

Taylah Preston has advanced to the second round of the US Open for the first time. (Reuters: Imagn Images/Mike Frey)

The 20-year-old from Western Australia, whose only previous second-round appearance at a grand slam was this year's Australian Open, produced a terrific performance to secure a 6-3, 6-3 victory.

"It's really special," the 20-year-old said after the straight-sets demolition job vindicated Tennis Australia's decision to award the tyro entry to the final major of 2026 under a reciprocal arrangement with the United States Tennis Association.

"Glad that my first grand slam win was in Australia, but hopefully I can keep winning rounds at all the slams, not just at home."

The Australian faced three break points in the fourth game of the opening set but was able to rally and level at 2-2. Preston then applied pressure to Parks's serve in the very next game, getting a 15-40 lead before winning the game on her second break point.

Preston broke Parks's serve in the ninth game to win the opening set.

Parks responded immediately by breaking Preston in the opening game of the second set.

Down 0-2 and facing, Preston roared back to win five games on the bounce, on her way to another 6-3 set win to close out the match.

Preston, world number 100, will either face Polish 20th seed Maja Chwalinska or American Taylor Townsend in the second round at Flushing Meadows.

Gibson, Hunter and Walton out in first round

A dejected Talia Gibson is doing her best to extract the positives after Donna Vekic crashed the rising star's US Open party in a rough start for the Australian contingent.

Talia Gibson went down in three sets to Donna Vekic of Croatia. (AP: Andres Kudacki)

Storm Hunter and Adam Walton also made early exits on day one at Flushing Meadows as Gibson was unable to disguise her anguish at an opportunity lost.

The 22-year-old rallied from a set and a service break down to look poised to claim her maiden grand slam victory outside Australia before Vekic steadied to post a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and 33 minutes.

The veteran Croat and 2024 Wimbledon semifinalist seemed to be unravelling after blowing a set and 4-1 lead, cursing herself and berating her box as Gibson roared back into the contest.

But Gibson was unable to wrestle back control after failing to convert any of four break-point chances in the second game of the deciding set.

She had Vekic down 0-40 serving at 4-2, only to miss five straight returns to ruefully let the Paris Olympics silver medallist off the hook.

"It's a hard one to swallow," Gibson said.

"Most of the time it's who makes the most unforced errors on the court who comes away with the loss, and today that was me, so it's just something to learn from."

But after starting the year well outside the world's top 100, Gibson has slashed her ranking in half after racking up some 30 match wins, including over former No.1 and dual Australian and US Open champion Naomi Osaka.

"Days like these are really tough. It's hard not to be disappointed. When it comes to the slams, every player wants to do well," said the world No.63.

"But if I'm looking at my entire year so far, I've been able to achieve some things that probably at the start of the year I probably wouldn't have thought I'd be able to do.

"So to still be in the position ranking that I currently have and moving forward to these next tournaments, I don't really have any points to defend, so it's kind of just no pressure and more opportunities."

Aussie qualifier Storm Hunter was defeated by 11th seed Marta Kostyuk in straight sets.

Storm Hunter was knocked out in the first round of the US Open after qualifying for the grand slam last week. (AP: Andres Kudacki)

After stumbling at this year's Australian Open, Kostyuk has been in sublime form at the grand slams, making the semifinals of the French Open and Wimbledon to arrive at Flushing Meadows as a genuine contender in the women's draw.

The 11th seed got down to business quickly once the match began, and powered to a 4-1 lead before overcoming a wobble to close out the first set when Hunter produced a double fault on set point.

Kostyuk tightened her grip on the clash in the second set, breaking early and never allowing Hunter a route back as she wrapped up a 6-4, 6-1 victory in 67 minutes.

"I'm very happy to be back to this amazing place," Kostyuk said on court.

"It's not easy to play a qualifier; they've played a whole tournament [already]. I'm very happy with my performance today. I try to keep myself grounded. There's still a long way to go; I'm enjoying my tennis."

Walton also bowed out early, missing two set points in the third set of a tight 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, 7-5 loss to China's Yibing Wu.

World number seven and three-time US Open quarterfinalist Alex de Minaur opens his title quest on Tuesday against Italian qualifier Andrea Guerrieri.

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