Toby Samuel Stuns Tomas Machac on US Open Debut for First Grand Slam Win
British qualifier Toby Samuel beat Tomas Machac on his US Open debut on August 30, 2026, claiming his first Grand Slam victory in straight sets on the opening day of the tournament.
The numbers behind the win are striking. Samuel dropped just five points across his nine service games in the opening two sets against Machac, according to BBC Sport. He served three successive holds to love — games where the opponent fails to win a single point — as part of a seven-game winning run that left Machac grasping for answers.
The third set tested Samuel's nerve. Trailing 2-0, he recovered to win the next six games, including saving two break points (chances for the returner to take the server's game). A break point saved at 0-2 is the kind of moment that swings a set; Samuel held, then rolled through the rest of the set without dropping another game.
The 23-year-old's path to Flushing Meadows has been anything but conventional. Before he picked up a tennis racquet in earnest, Samuel was a footballer in AFC Bournemouth's academy, USOpen.org notes. Encouraged by his parents to pursue a degree, he crossed the Atlantic for the University of South Carolina, where he won an All-American doubles title and benefited from the American collegiate system that has produced a growing roster of tour-ready professionals.
Samuel was a former junior world number 57 — a solid but unspectacular ranking that would not have marked him out as a future Grand Slam match-winner. His old junior doubles partner, Arthur Fery, has also climbed the ranks in recent seasons, propelled by an unexpected run to the 2024 Wimbledon semi-finals. The two paired up as juniors at the 2019 Wimbledon boys' doubles event.
The college experience, Samuel said, prepared him for the New York crowds — which he described as "super lively" and noisy. That familiarity paid off: his University of South Carolina teammates came down to support him during the Machac match, giving him a pocket of familiar voices in a cavernous arena on the biggest day of his career.
Next up for Samuel is a second-round meeting with Czech 18th seed Jiri Lehecka. The seeding protects top players from meeting early in the draw, which means Samuel, as a qualifier, now faces a player the tournament expected to go deep. Lehecka will be a step up in class, but if Samuel serves anything like he did against Machac, the Czech will have to earn every point.
A qualifier winning on Grand Slam debut is rare enough. Doing it while barely losing a point on serve for two sets sets this apart from the usual opening-day upset. Samuel arrived in New York with a college degree, an All-American title and a junior doubles partnership at Wimbledon. He leaves Day 1 with a first Grand Slam win and a date with a seeded player.
