Dane Sweeny’s US Open Journey Ends in Third Round
Dane Sweeny’s breakout US Open run ended not with a roar, but with a limp.
The Australian qualifier-turned-storyline of the first week bowed out in the third round, beaten 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 by 21st seed Luciano Darderi, his body and timing deserting him on the biggest stage of his career.
A dream week meets a hard stop
Sweeny, who complained of a hip issue during the match, never quite found the fluency that had carried him into the last 32. The world number 123 sprayed errors he hadn’t been making all week, struggling to lock into the rallies against the world number 22.
"I just wasn't really feeling it, just not really feeling the timing and the rhythm as I have been," he admitted. "I just made a lot of cheap errors and that was quite frustrating."
He wanted a street fight. Darderi never had to go there.
"I was OK to lose a match, but I really wanted to test him more and bring a good level so I could make an absolute fight out of it," Sweeny said. "Win or lose, I wanted to really make him work for the victory at least and I wasn't able to do that."
For Australia, the defeat carries a wider sting. With Alex de Minaur stunned in the second round by Botic van de Zandschulp, Sweeny was the last local hope standing at Flushing Meadows. His exit means no Australian singles player reaches the second week in New York for the first time in five years.
From late call-up to life-changing week
That Australia even had a player in the third round owed something to fortune and a lot to Sweeny’s nerve.
He only squeezed into the US Open at the last moment, when two late withdrawals allowed Tennis Australia to reassign a reciprocal wildcard originally given to Alexei Popyrin. The 25-year-old Queenslander seized the reprieve and turned his first US Open main-draw appearance into a watershed.
A place in the last 32 of a major. A career-best ranking on the way. And a cheque that changes the shape of a career.
Sweeny will bank $402,500 for his run, money that, in his words, goes straight back into his profession.
"The financial side of things, that will help with coaching and people you travel with," he said, fully aware of what that figure means for a player used to grinding the lower tiers of the tour.
Provisionally, he is set to climb to number 109 in the world. One more jump — into the top 100 by season’s end — would unlock direct entry to the Australian Open for the first time.
"That's exciting too. But that will take care of itself," he said. "It's hard not to worry about that because we're indoctrinated to want that low number next to our name, but I can just focus on working hard, focus on improving.
"Particularly just staying really kind to myself and trying to enjoy the journey."
The journey leaves New York with a bruise, but also with a new ceiling.
American hopes rocked on home soil
While Sweeny packed his bags, the American challenge took a heavy blow of its own.
Past US Open finalists Taylor Fritz, Madison Keys and Amanda Anisimova all crashed out in the third round, ripping a hole through the home draw in a single day.
Fritz, the ninth seed and 2024 runner-up, looked in cruise control. He hadn’t dropped a set all tournament and led Francisco Cerundolo by two sets, apparently on his way to another straightforward win.
Then the match turned.
The Argentine found his range, dragged Fritz into longer, heavier exchanges and flipped the contest on its head. Cerundolo stormed back 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the fourth round in New York for the first time, condemning Fritz to his earliest exit here in four years.
On the women’s side, the collapse was even more brutal.
Madison Keys, the 2017 runner-up, led Zheng Qinwen 5-0 in the deciding set and seemed to have the match locked away. Zheng refused to fold. Point by point, game by game, she clawed her way back, dragging herself out of a career slump in real time.
The Chinese star erased the deficit, forced Keys into panic territory and completed a stunning turnaround, winning 1-6, 7-6 (7/3), 7-5. When the final ball flew long, Zheng dropped to the court in disbelief and joy.
Her reward is a fourth-round showdown with 2022 champion and former world number one Iga Świątek, who edged past Marie Bouzková in twin tie-breaks, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/3), in a match that never quite let either player breathe.
Anisimova, seeded 10th and last year’s runner-up, found no such escape. Her difficult season at the majors continued with a 6-2, 7-5 defeat to Anastasia Potapova, another early exit in a year that promised more.
Only Coco Gauff held the line for the home crowd.
The defending champion delivered a composed 6-3, 6-4 win over Spain’s Cristina Bucșa, a clean, businesslike performance that cut through the gloom of the day and kept at least one American title defence firmly alive.
On a bruising day for hosts and surprise packages alike, Gauff marches on. Sweeny, Fritz, Keys and Anisimova do not. The tournament, suddenly, belongs to the ones who found a way to turn the tide.
