Fearnley and Dart Rally Into US Open Second Round

Jacob Fearnley and Harriet Dart both completed comeback victories to reach the second round of the US Open. BBC Sport reported that Fearnley defeated Martin Landaluce 4-6, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, while Dart recovered to beat American Peyton Stearns 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 at Flushing Meadows.

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Fearnley, ranked 101st in the world, entered the main draw as a lucky loser after Brazil’s Joao Fonseca withdrew late. The British number four had lost his final qualifying match to Jurij Rodionov after holding a one-set advantage, but the withdrawal gave him another opportunity in the tournament.

That opportunity appeared close to ending when world number 65 Landaluce led 5-2 and served for the match in the fourth set. Fearnley responded by winning 20 of the next 24 points, including three breaks of serve, and forced a deciding set. He then moved 5-1 ahead in the fifth before missing two match points in his first attempt to serve out the contest. In his next service game, he closed the victory to love.

Fearnley produced 30 winners across the final two sets, compared with 11 from Landaluce. The pair’s unforced-error totals over those sets were close, with Fearnley making 27 and Landaluce 29, but the Briton’s attacking output helped him complete the turnaround.

Dart’s victory ended a 19-month wait for a main-draw singles win at a Grand Slam. The 30-year-old had last earned one at the 2025 Australian Open and needed three sets in each of her three qualifying matches in New York. Against Stearns, she trailed by a set and an early break before securing two breaks in the second set and taking control midway through the third.

Stearns recorded 40 winners but also made 47 unforced errors. Dart held serve in the sixth game of the deciding set to stop a sequence of three straight breaks, then converted her fourth match point after just under two and a half hours. Fearnley will next face 27th seed Tomas Etcheverry, while Dart plays 25th seed Marie Bouzkova. Their wins put four British singles players into round two, alongside Toby Samuel and Katie Boulter.