GB's Samuel earns first win at Grand Slam - but 'nervous' Norrie beaten

British qualifier Toby Samuel broke more new ground with a dominant victory over Tomas Machac on his US Open main-draw debut.The 23-year-old came from a set down in each of his three qualifying matches in New York this week to guarantee a third Grand Slam appearance of the year. However, he had no such issues against former world number 20 Machac, wrapping up a 6-2 6-3 6-2 victory in just over 90 minutes to register his first win at a Grand Slam.Just two years ago, Samuel fell to almost 2,000th in the world rankings as bone bruising in his right arm ruled him out of much of the 2024 season.He now sits inside the top 100 in the live ATP rankings, along with earning $140,000 (£103,000) in prize money in the biggest payday of his career so far. Samuel won 36 of 39 matches on the ATP Challenger Tour to return to the top 300 last year, but has reached new heights in 2026. The Winchester native came through qualifying to make his Grand Slam debut at the French Open, having never previously contested a single match on the ATP Tour.He continued that momentum with a run to the semi-finals at Eastbourne, a Wimbledon wildcard, and a third Challenger crown of the year on Winnipeg's hard courts. Samuel's new ranking would secure automatic qualification for next January's Australian Open, completing the set of major appearances a year after making his top-250 debut."I think I probably won't play that well in the next match, so I've got to be ready to fight and be a lot tougher," Samuel said."I'm going to do everything I can to be ready. I'm pretty tired but otherwise I'm so happy to have got the job done."In the first two sets, I wasn't missing any balls. I was feeling amazing."At the start of the third I knew he'd come out stronger and I had a little bit of a dip. But I fought back pretty quick and I managed to close it out confidently."Clinical in the opening two sets against Machac, he dropped just five points across his nine service games, including three successive holds to love as part of a seven-game winning run.Trailing 2-0 at the start of the third set, he recovered to win the next six games – including saving two break points – to set up a second-round meeting with Czech 18th seed Jiri Lehecka.Like Arthur Fery, his 2019 Wimbledon boys' doubles partners who shot up the rankings following an unexpected run to this year's SW19 semi-finals, Samuel has benefitted from the American collegiate system.The former junior world number 57 was encouraged by his parents to pursue a degree at the University of South Carolina, where he won an All American doubles title. Previously crediting his college experience with helping him "prepare" for the "super lively" and noisy American crowds, Samuel praised his college team-mates for helping him get over the line against Machac."I had a few of my college mates from Carolina come down and support. They brought their energy," Samuel said."I was so grateful they were able to come down and give me that fighting energy to keep going and get the job done."