Tiebreak settles the opening set
On the hard courts of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, Colton Smith and Jérôme Kym produced an intense contest in the second round of 2026 US Open qualifying. The opening set developed into a nervy affair that was only settled in the tiebreak. Kym, the 1.98-metre-tall Swiss, was dominant on serve — he fired nine aces and held serve on 87 percent of his service games — but in the decisive tiebreak he found himself chasing Smith. The American took the tiebreak 7-2 and with it the first set 7-6.
Smith, seeded 22nd in the qualifying draw, was particularly effective at the net, winning 71 percent of his net points while maintaining consistent pressure on his own serve. He landed 66 percent of first serves in play and won 76 percent of points behind that first serve.
Kym fights back to force a deciding set
The second set belonged emphatically to the Swiss. Kym raised his return game noticeably, converted his break points with greater efficiency and gave Smith little room to breathe, levelling the match at 6-2 and forcing a deciding set. The second-set statistics told a clear story: Kym saved 71 percent of the break points he faced and kept Smith under relentless pressure throughout his service games.
Kym, who earned his first Grand Slam main-draw berth in 2025 and reached the third round at that year's US Open, seemed to be recapturing his best tennis in that set. He struck 22 winners and kept his unforced errors to 31 — identical to Smith, who also produced 31 unforced errors.
Smith holds his nerve in the deciding set
When it mattered most in the third set, it was Smith who kept his composure. The American, who had caught the eye during the 2025/26 season with two Challenger titles — including a successful defence of the Cleveland Open — showed he could handle the big occasion as well. He seized his opportunities at the right moments, converting 29 percent of his break points across the match, and never relinquished control in the deciding set.
Kym battled hard but could not sustain the rhythm he had found in the second set, dropping the third set 4-6 and with it the match. The final score from Kym's perspective read 6-7, 6-2, 4-6. Smith advances to the third and final qualifying round, where a place in the 2026 US Open main draw is at stake. For Kym, who entered qualifying unseeded, the journey to New York ends here.
