#Letakan iklan disini
Tennis Aug 31, 2026

US Open 2026: Toby Samuel wins first career Grand Slam match as Cameron Norrie loses on opening day

👤
By Admin
Sports Journalist
US Open 2026: Toby Samuel wins first career Grand Slam match as Cameron Norrie loses on opening day

Britain's Toby Samuel won his maiden Grand Slam match after an impressive straight-sets victory while Katie Boulter also won through, but Cameron Norrie lost on the opening day of the US Open.

Samuel, who came through three rounds of qualifying, stunned former top 20 player Tomas Machac 6-2 6-3 6-2 in just 90 minutes with a superb display of serving and groundstroke hitting.

The win means Samuel will move into the top 100 on the ATP rankings and he will play 18th seed Jiri Lehecka, another Czech player, in the next round on Wednesday

"I'm so tired - but otherwise I'm so happy to have got the job done there," said Samuel, who was ranked 683 in the world this time last year.

"I played a great match - I'm just so thankful to everyone that has supported me to this moment, and hopefully I can carry on into next week.

"The first two sets I wasn't missing any balls. In the third, he came out a bit stronger - I had a little dip in the first few games, but I came out of it quickly. I'm just going to try and do exactly what I did today in the next match."

Samuel was a clear step above Machac for most of the match with early breaks in the first and second set enough to take a quick two sets lead.

The 23-year-old barely made any unforced errors and was not threatened on serve until the start of the third set, when he was broken, but he won six consecutive games to break his winless Grand Slam duck.

In the women's draw Katie Boulter came through a tough match against American wild card Carol Young Suh Lee.

British number one Boulter, 30, looked to be cruising through at a set and a break ahead, only for some costly double-faults to let Lee back in.

However Boulter, cheered on by new husband Alex De Minaur, gathered herself on a noisy, partisan Court Five to win 6-4 3-6 6-0.

A tricky assignment could await in round two, however, with a potential tie against this year's Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova.

Norrie was unable to join Samuel in the second round after a third successive first-round exit at Grand Slams this year as he lost 7-6 (8-6) 2-6 2-6 3-6 to France's Luca Van Assche.

A topsy-turvy opening set went Norris' way but his performance suddenly dipped early in the second set and he was never able to recover as Van Assche gained confidence in the long baseline rallies.

Norrie, who has been overtaken as British No 1 by Arthur Fery after his run to the Winston-Salem final on Saturday, became increasingly frustrated but showed some fight after being broken early in the fourth set.

He got back to 3-3 with some superb hitting but Van Assche resisted the late rally to break again and book a spot in the second round of the US Open for the first time in his career.

"It was really tough," said Norrie. "I was pretty nervous and it showed in the beginning of the first set, and I did well to steal that first set.

"But I could never really maintain a good level of energy and momentum, and I'd play well for a little bit and then drop off a couple of games here and there.

"So that was super frustrating and pretty surprising. I felt like I lost to myself today."

The US Open is live on Your Site every day until September 13. and the . You can also watch the Laver Cup at The O2 in London from 25-27 September live on Your Site.

Tags:

tennis news

Share this article

Related Posts

Roger Federer rolls back years to beat Andy Roddick in exhibition at US Open

Roger Federer rolls back years to beat Andy Roddick in exhibition at US Open

Roger Federer made a triumphant return to the US Open court with a pair of exhibition victories in front of an adoring Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd in Ne...

Tennis 2026 schedule, Grand Slam dates and tournament calendar for ATP and WTA Tours

Tennis 2026 schedule, Grand Slam dates and tournament calendar for ATP and WTA Tours

Keep track of the dates, tournament calendar and latest results for the 2026 ATP and WTA Tours.Live tennis is available all year on Your Site while no...

US Open draw: Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Arthur Fery, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff find out first-round opponents in New York

US Open draw: Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Arthur Fery, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff find out first-round opponents in New York

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are on for a US Open collision course following Thursday's draw in New York, while Britain's Arthur Fery has been ha...

Arthur Fery: Britain's Wimbledon hero reaches Winston-Salem Open final after his opponent James Duckworth retires injured

Arthur Fery: Britain's Wimbledon hero reaches Winston-Salem Open final after his opponent James Duckworth retires injured

Wimbledon star Arthur Fery continued his dream summer by reaching the final of the Winston-Salem Open on Friday.Fery has paved his way through the ATP...

US Open Tennis: News, draw, schedule, results and updates from Flushing Meadows in New York

US Open Tennis: News, draw, schedule, results and updates from Flushing Meadows in New York

'Spurs' Moore set to join Koln on loan'Tottenham are set for a busy end to the summer transfer window with young attacker Mikey Moore one of several p...

US Open: Czech duo Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik win mixed doubles championship and scoop cool $1m

US Open: Czech duo Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik win mixed doubles championship and scoop cool $1m

Czech duo Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik defeated Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli 6-3 1-6 [10-6] to win the US Open mixed doubles championship an...