It was a tale of two halves: Zsombor Piros lost the opening set to Christopher O'Connell 5–7, but saved himself by forcing a tiebreak in the second and taking it 7–3. The Australian then retired — sending Piros into the US Open main draw.
First set goes to O'Connell
Christopher O'Connell, who entered qualifying seeded 17th, made a strong start on the outdoor hard courts in New York. The 32-year-old Australian — something of a rarity on the modern ATP Tour with his one-handed backhand — controlled the key moments of the opening set. He converted his break points with clinical efficiency and took the set 7–5. Piros, who came into qualifying seeded 12th, struggled to find his rhythm early on and gave his opponent too many opportunities.
Piros turns it around in the tiebreak
The second set told a different story. Piros, who won the Australian Open junior title in 2017 and reached a career-high ATP ranking of 106, settled into his game noticeably. He dominated on serve — finishing with nine aces — fended off O'Connell's break points with conviction and kept the set on a knife's edge all the way to the tiebreak. There, the Hungarian barely put a foot wrong: he won the decisive breaker 7–3 and turned the match on its head.
O'Connell retires — Piros into the main draw
Following the lost tiebreak, Christopher O'Connell retired, giving no specific details about the reasons for his withdrawal. It brought the curtain down on a match that was tight on paper: Piros won 48 percent of all points, but his 26 winners dwarfed O'Connell's 16 in that department. On serve, Piros won 57 percent of points compared to O'Connell's 62 percent — an advantage that was ultimately neutralised by the tiebreak. Piros converted 43 percent of his break points and saved 64 percent of the break points he faced.
For Zsombor Piros, the victory means a place in the main draw of the year's final Grand Slam. O'Connell, who had slipped outside the top 100 after reaching a career-high ATP ranking of 53 in September 2023 and was hoping to find his way back in New York, must put his comeback on hold a little longer.
