Future stars got a boost through qualifying at the US Open

For some of the game’s greats, that jumping-off point has been the US Open qualifying rounds. Future tournament champions, finalists and up-and-comers have battled through the pre-tournament to make a debut appearance at the last Grand Slam event of the year.

Here’s a look at some of the prominent players that have gone on to greater acclaim in their respective careers at tournaments around the globe, including in New York.

Vinci’s Brush With Greatness

In 2015, Roberta Vinci pulled off one of the biggest upsets in regard to importance in tennis history when she stopped Serena Williams’ bid for the calendar-year Grand Slam in the US Open semifinals. A two-time quarterfinalist at the tournament before that, the Italian’s major-playing career actually started more than a decade earlier, when she qualified for the 2001 US Open. Vinci lost in the first round, missing out on an opportunity for an earlier meeting with Williams, who was in her section of the draw that year.

Kuznetsova’s Teenage Dream

Having recently turned 17, Svetlana Kuznetsova entered the 2002 US Open qualifying tournament on a hot streak as she had just claimed her first career title in Finland. Though that milestone victory helped the Russian crack the Top 100, it didn’t come in time to help her gain direct entry into the Open. Nevertheless, she kept winning, taking three matches in the pre-tournament, then another two in the main draw to reach the third round. Though she lost at that stage, she had posted a 13-match winning streak overall (she qualified in Finland, too.) Two years later, Kuznetsova was seeded ninth in New York and went on to win the tournament, becoming one of its youngest champions.

Murray Makes His Move

In 2005, 18-year-old Andy Murray showed up for the qualifying tournament in fine form, having won two Challenger titles on hard courts that summer leading up to the Open. He was also quite familiar with the scene at Flushing Meadows as he was the reigning champion in the boys’ event. Murray didn’t drop a set through three rounds of qualifying and managed to win a main-draw match, too. In 2008, he reached the final of the tournament and in 2012, won the US Open for his first career major title.

Del Potro Thunders Through

Racing up the rankings in 2006, 17-year-old Juan Martin del Potro worked his way to the near cusp of the direct-entry cutoff for the US Open that year. Though he didn’t make it, the young “Tower from Tandil” further proved that he was one of the game’s up-and-comers by battling through the qualifying rounds. Three years later, it was a completely different story as del Potro captured the tournament’s top prize, defeating none other than Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in his last two matches.

The Class of ‘18

Some of the young talent that made it to the main draw in 2018 on the men’s side could potentially find themselves among the greats. Ugo Humbert, Casper Ruud, Hubert Hurkacz, Lloyd Harris and Felix Auger-Aliassime all fought through the qualifying rounds that year to make their US Open main-draw debuts. The way each of them have impressed so far in their burgeoning careers, a major title in New York could be in the cards for one—or more—of them in the future.