Australian qualifier stuns top-20 rival to reach last 32 at US Open

Priscilla Hon tried to tell us.

Speaking after qualifying at Wimbledon two months ago, Hon – who, at age 27, has never been ranked higher than No.118 in the world, and is eight places lower than that now – told this masthead that she believed she could be a top-30 player.

There wasn’t much evidence, as far as results, to suggest it was anything but fanciful thinking. Until now.

The Australian qualifier is celebrating her greatest moment after bouncing powerful Russian top-20 star Liudmila Samsonova out of the US Open in a stunning 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 upset that advances her to the round of 32 at a grand slam for the first time.

She had not won a main draw match at a major since the 2020 Australian Open before beating France’s Leolia Jeanjean in the first round.

Hon finished with a flurry against Samsonova, firing her 17th and 18th aces to breeze to the finish line. She hit 36 winners overall to Samsonova’s 21, and also committed fewer unforced errors (23 to 30) in a brilliant display.

Like many on the unforgiving tennis circuit, Hon has her own tale of woe.

With the tour suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Hon instead played in Universal Tennis Rating events in Australia – but suffered a torn labrum and strained joint capsule on her left side while reaching for a return.

The injury was so bad that doctors likened it to what they see in patients involved in motorbike accidents, and told Hon she may never make it back on court.

Devastated, she headed for a bottle-o and drowned her sorrows with a cheap bottle of wine on a hot Brisbane day. But Hon never contemplated throwing in the towel and was back playing about nine months later.

She also had to deal with the grief of losing her former coach Anthony Richardson, who died of cancer in early 2023. Hon told this masthead at the time that he was “a second dad” to her.

The vintage clothing enthusiast has mostly made her living on the fringes of the main tour without realising the potential she promised as a top-15 junior more than a decade ago. That might finally be about to change.

Samsonova wilted under Hon’s power-packed assault in the fifth game of the final set, sending down four double faults then ballooning a forehand long to hand her 126th-ranked rival the decisive break.

Perhaps gun shy from her serving woes two games earlier, Samsonova began rolling her second serves in – and Hon punished that decision by crunching consecutive backhand return winners to edge closer to victory.

Then, with the chance to go a double-break up, Hon caned two cross-court backhands near the sideline, cramping the world No.20 and causing her to spray her own backhand wide to give the Australian the opportunity to serve out the match.

Without any outward signs of nerves, Hon blitzed through her service game to complete the biggest win of her career, which could, she will hope, serve as a turning point.

The triumph propels her to the verge of a top-100 debut, which she will achieve if she can win her next match against 58th-ranked American Ann Li, who upset 16th seed and Wimbledon semi-finalist Belinda Bencic, 6-3, 6-3.

More than three years have passed since Hon – once regarded as Australia’s best female prospect – upset then-world No.17 and dual Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova under lights in Brisbane ahead of the 2022 Australian Open.

There was a party atmosphere for Hon throughout the contest on court 10 at Flushing Meadows as the New Yorkers jumped behind the 126th-ranked Australian underdog.

One particularly boisterous man barely stopped shouting from the outset, including conditioning fellow spectators to a chant where he called out, “What time is it?” and they responded with, “Pri time!”

Jordan Thompson was unable to match Hon’s heroics, going down 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-3 to veteran French left-hander Adrian Mannarino.

Thompson could not match his charge to the fourth round last year and in 2020. Clearly frustrated during the match, he received a code violation for racquet abuse.

The remaining Aussies are back in action on Friday (AEST).

With AAP

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