Arabic version: فوز بيريل في أميركا المفتوحة يضمن لها 265 ألف دولار

According to The Guardian, Kim Birrell earned a guaranteed US$190,000 (A$265,000) after overcoming Croatia’s Petra Marcinko 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in the US Open women’s singles first round. The 28-year-old Gold Coaster reached the second round at Flushing Meadows for the first time after losses in her previous three opening matches there in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Birrell returned to Court 7 after a 14-hour rain delay, having saved a match point in the 12th game of the second set on Sunday. She was trailing by a set and a mini break in the second-set tiebreaker before recovering. Birrell had lost to Marcinko in straight sets on grass at Eastbourne two months earlier, while she won their first meeting in Texas in February after losing the opening set 6-0.

“That’s crazy,” Birrell told AAP after the victory. She said she had woken at about 5am ahead of the delayed resumption and needed to calm herself before returning to sleep. Birrell and her coach, Matt Fraser, are planning their wedding in Kingscliff at the end of the year. She said she would save some of the prize money, use it to help with the wedding and honeymoon, and pay down a mortgage.

Birrell is slated to rise 16 places to a career-high world No 55 and become Australia’s new No 1, replacing Talia Gibson. She next faces Russian world No 19 Ekaterina Alexandrova. Maya Joint also advanced, rallying past higher-ranked Russian Liudmila Samsonova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, while James Duckworth beat 30th seed Matteo Arnaldi 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (10-8). Duckworth next plays China’s Yibing Wu, and Joint faces ninth seed Elina Svitolina.