The 2024 United States Open got underway in Flushing Meadows, New York on Monday, with four Australians victorious. The Australian winners on the men’s side were Rinky Hijikata and Alexei Popyrin of Sydney, and the Australian winners on the women’s side were Ajla Tomljanovic of Brisbane, and qualifier Maya Joint.
If you have not heard of Joint, you are not alone. At 18 years old, the American-born Australian (qualifies for Australia because of her father’s heritage), who is ranked 242nd in the world, won her first ever grand slam match on Monday. Joint defeated Laura Siegmund of Germany, 6-4, 7-5. At 36 years of age, Siegmund is twice Joint’s age. Joint read Siegmund’s serve really well as she broke the German five times in nine opportunities.
Next up for Joint will be the 14th seed and 2017 United States Open finalist Madison Keys of Rock Island, Illinois. Tomljanovic, meanwhile beat American qualifier Ann Li of Atlanta, 6-4, 6-4, and will next face 2018 Australian Open semifinalist Elise Mertens of Belgium, the 33rd seed. Tomljanovic has won two of three meetings against Mertens all-time.
Hijikata defeated Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. He will next face three-time grand slam semifinalist and number nine seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria. Dimitrov has beaten Hijikata twice this year in Brisbane and Montreal.
Speaking of Montreal, that is the location where Popyrin won the National Bank Open in Canada this month. In the first round, Popyrin beat Soon-woo Kwon of South Korea 7-5, 6-2, 6-3. Popyrin will next face Pedro Martinez of Spain. Martinez beat Popyrin in Sydney and Tokyo in 2022.
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