On the ATP Tour, the US Open is the final Grand Slam of the year. The tournament takes place in New York over the next fortnight.
A total of 128 players battled through qualifying at Flushing Meadows. Nine British players entered the qualifying draw, with Arthur Fery currently attracting much of the attention.
The British results produced mixed emotions. However, several players delivered impressive performances.
Here, Sports News Blitz writer and tennis fan AJ Becker takes a closer look at their fortunes.
Samuel shines once again
It is worth remembering that Toby Samuel ranked 805th exactly one year ago.
Now, the 23-year-old has qualified for two Grand Slam main draws in 2026. He first achieved the feat at the French Open before repeating it in New York.
Francesco Maestrelli, Billy Harris and former top-20 player Cristian Garín all won the opening set against Samuel. However, Samuel fought back to defeat each of them.
Samuel has also advanced to the second round of the US Open main draw. He defeated world No. 58 Tomáš Macháč in straight sets.
The British player has won all five of his Challenger Tour finals on hard courts. He also reached the semi-finals at the Eastbourne grass-court event.
Those results show that Samuel can compete across different surfaces. He has also displayed the confidence and resilience that many British players have struggled to maintain.
Samuel now has his sights set on breaking into the top 100. The former University of South Carolina sports-management student is certainly a player to watch.
Wendelken making his way
Harry Wendelken has also made significant progress over the past year.
The 24-year-old ranked 481st at this stage last year. He has since climbed into the top 200 after reaching four Challenger Tour finals and qualifying at Queen’s.
Wendelken has taken a different route from Samuel. His progress has been slower, but he has shown plenty of resilience and mental toughness.
All three of his US Open qualifying matches went the distance.
Wendelken needed consecutive tie-break victories in the final round against Lithuania’s Vilius Gaubas. The match lasted almost four hours.
His reward is a place in the US Open main draw. He will face Italy’s Luciano Darderi in the first round.
Darderi is known mainly for his clay-court performances. However, he has made encouraging progress on hard courts.
Darderi will start as the favourite. His recent fitness problems could give Wendelken an opportunity to cause an upset.
Fearnley finds his feet
Jacob Fearnley burst onto the scene in 2024. He then enjoyed an excellent first half of 2025.
The Scot collected 16 main-draw tour-level wins during that period. Those results helped him climb into the world’s top 50.
Fearnley has found this season much more difficult.
There have still been positive moments. He produced a comeback victory over Alex Michelsen at Wimbledon and reached two Challenger finals on grass.
However, the 25-year-old failed to qualify for the US Open after losing to Austria’s Jurij Rodionov in the final round.
Fearnley won the opening set but could not complete the victory. Rodionov had previously failed in all 10 of his attempts to qualify for a hard-court Grand Slam.
Fearnley still earned a place in the main draw as one of four lucky losers.
He will face Martin Landaluce, a former junior US Open champion. Landaluce is ranked No. 65 and enters the match as the higher-ranked player.
Fearnley’s preparation could help close the gap. A victory could also provide the platform he needs to climb back towards the top 50.
Other Brits fall short
On the flipside of fate and fortune are those representing Great Britain who fell short.
In February, I wrote glowingly about Jack Pinnington Jones and his euphoria-cultivating seven days in Dallas.
Sadly, his quarter-final run at that 500-level event has proved to be something of a false dawn rather than the tour breakthrough many had hoped for.
A recent run of five wins in 20 matches underscores the difficulties the 23-year-old from Surrey has faced.
Despite North American hard courts being firmly within his comfort zone, the Texas Christian University alumnus fell at the second stage of qualifying to Finland’s Otto Virtanen, squandering two match points.
Felix Gill has shown glimpses of the highs of which he is capable on the Challenger tour, with a trio of semi-finals taking the Midlander to a career-high rank of number 213.
However, this US Open did not rank among his best tournaments as he tamely lost in stage one to Francesco Passaro of Italy.
The aforementioned Billy Harris being eliminated by Samuel came as no surprise since Harris’ overseas slam qualification record would send a seasoned politician running for the spin doctor!
As well as failing in all nine such campaigns, the 31-year-old could not qualify for any of 12 tour competitions outside of Wimbledon this year and is in danger of falling outside the top 200.
Henry Searle’s heavy loss to 16-year-old wild card Michael Antonius – this year’s junior French Open runner-up – registered as a shock, althoughNot every British player enjoyed the same success during qualifying.
Jack Pinnington Jones entered the tournament hoping to build on his impressive run in Dallas earlier this year.
His quarter-final appearance at the ATP 500 event had raised hopes of a breakthrough. However, his recent results have not matched that performance.
Pinnington Jones has won only five of his last 20 matches.
The 23-year-old also struggled during US Open qualifying. Despite his strong record on North American hard courts, Finland’s Otto Virtanen eliminated him in the second round.
Pinnington Jones had two match points but could not convert either opportunity.
Felix Gill also fell short of expectations.
The Midlander has shown plenty of promise on the Challenger Tour. Three semi-final appearances helped him reach a career-high ranking of No. 213.
However, he lost in the first round of US Open qualifying to Italy’s Francesco Passaro.
Billy Harris also failed to qualify. Samuel eliminated his fellow Briton in the opening round.
Harris’ record in overseas Grand Slam qualifying remains a concern. He has failed in all nine of his previous attempts.
The 31-year-old has also failed to qualify for any of the 12 tour-level events he entered outside Wimbledon this year.
Henry Searle suffered another surprise defeat.
The British youngster lost heavily to 16-year-old wild card Michael Antonius. Antonius finished runner-up at this year’s junior French Open.
Searle’s defeat came on unfamiliar territory, which provides some context for the result.
Liam Broady and Jay Clarke also saw their Grand Slam hopes end in the opening round. Both players suffered comprehensive defeats.
The mixed results show the contrasting fortunes of British tennis at the US Open.
Samuel and Wendelken have made major progress, while Fearnley received a lucky break with his place in the main draw.
For the other British players, the qualifying campaign highlighted the work still required to compete consistently at Grand Slam level. when viewed in a different dimension, it can be mitigated by the fact Searle is on somewhat unfamiliar territory.
Lastly, Liam Broady and Jay Clarke’s hopes of appearing in another slam appear to be dead or at least dying – both were comprehensively defeated in round one.
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