American teens Martin Damm Jr. and Toby Alex Kodat may need to open adult bank accounts after a stunning first-round win in the US Open doubles Thursday. Damm, 15, and Kodat, 16, had combined career earnings of $1504 coming into the week, but increased that by a factor of 20 after beating countrymen Mitchell Krueger and Tim Smyczek 7-6(6), 7-5 at Flushing Meadows.

The teens are guaranteed to share $30,000 by reaching the second round, with a $50,000 pay day awaiting if they reach the third round.

But the excitement of winning their first tour-level match was what was truly top of mind Thursday.

Kodat said, “It was such an honor to receive a wild card at the US Open. A dream come true. To win here tonight, our first round, is something I could only have dreamed about. Such an amazing experience for us.”

Damm, whose father Martin reached ATP Rankings of 42 for singles and 5 for doubles, said, “What a day for us and what an amazing place to record our first Grand Slam win, and then to do it together. We have been friends since we were very young and played in every level of the juniors together. To play here, get this experience, and then walk away with a win, it’s a dream come true.”

At their most recent Grand Slam at Wimbledon, Damm and Kodat reached the semi-finals of the boys’ doubles and Damm also reached the semi-finals of the boys’ singles.

At Roland Garros, Kodat reached the boys’ singles final and Damm the boys’ semis. They fell in the quarters of the doubles.

In the third round the teens play the winner of 12th seeds Kevin Krawietz/Andreas Mies and Marcelo Demoliner/Dominic Inglot.

Hyeon Chung is on the rise once again at the US Open, scoring his second consecutive five-set win on Thursday against Fernando Verdasco to reach the third round. The South Korean, champion at the inaugural 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals, is far from alone in his penchant for five-set battles this week, though.

Twenty-three matches went to a fifth set in the first two rounds in New York, almost guaranteeing that the US Open will have more matches going the distance than any other Grand Slam this year or in 2018.

Five-Set Grand Slam Matches (2018 & 2019)

Chung is among five players who doubled their pleasure in scoring back-to-back five-set victories to reach the third round. Joining him in the feat are sixth seed Alexander Zverev, Alexander Bublik, Paolo Lorenzi and Kamil Majchrzak.

Chung, Lorenzi and Majchrzak showed supreme fitness by also weathering three matches in the qualifying draw. The South Korean’s win over Verdasco, which involved saving a match point at 5-6 in the final set, was one of four matches so far this week to conclude in a fifth-set tie-break. 

Meanwhile, Zverev has proven to be the last opponent anyone wants to face in a final set at a Grand Slam. He boosted his fifth-set record at majors this week to 12-5, winning nine of his past 10 matches that went the distance.

The South Korean spent a minute under seven hours on court in his first two rounds, proving he’s fully recovered from the back injury that sidelined him for five months this season. Chung returned to action on the ATP Challenger Tour in July and won the first event of his comeback in Chengdu.

He’ll need all of his remaining energy for a high-octane third-round clash on Saturday against second seed Rafael Nadal.

One word to describe Nick Kyrgios’ performance on Thursday at the US Open: clinical.

The 28th seed completed a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over Antoine Hoang in a brisk one hour and 58 minutes. It was standing room only on Grandstand to catch a glimpse of the Aussie, who sprinted past the French wild card with little trouble.

Kyrgios, who blasted 40 winners, has not dropped a set in matching his best result at the US Open. He has reached the third round for a fourth time and will look to make his Round of 16 debut when he faces Andrey Rublev on Saturday.

“Once again, the crowd was amazing. It’s always fun playing in front of them,” said Kyrgios following the match. “But he’s no easy opponent. Obviously he’s a quality opponent being in the second round here, so I knew it would be tough but I had to serve and play big. That’s what happened.

“New York has a fair bit of distractions, so I’m trying to stay away from that. But this is one of my favourite tournaments of the year, so I’m really trying to strap in and do well this week. I want to stay focused.”

Kyrgios breezed through the first set after 35 minutes without much drama. Serving at 5-4 40/0, he faked an underarm serve and promptly struck a sublime second serve ace that kicked beyond Hoang’s reach. It was smooth sailing from there for the 24-year-old, eventually converting his third match point with a service winner.

He enters New York on the heels of a title run at the Citi Open in Washington. It will be the second FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting between Kyrgios and Rublev, following a first-round triumph by the Aussie in Moscow last year.

Earlier on Thursday, Rublev advanced to the third round after Gilles Simon retired with a neck ailment. He led 6-2 when the Frenchman was forced to stop. Rublev, who upset eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to open his campaign, is just two years removed from a magical quarter-final run at Flushing Meadows. On the comeback trail after enduring a stress fracture in his lower back, the 21-year-old is pushing towards a Top 40 return in the ATP Rankings.

For the second straight year, there are three Australians in the third round of the US Open. In 2018, it was Kyrgios, Alex de Minaur and John Millman. This week, Kyrgios and De Minaur are joined by 20-year-old Alexei Popyrin.

Popyrin defeated Mikhail Kukushkin 2-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2, rallying from a set down to triumph on Court 12. The Sydney native launched 44 winners, including 15 aces, during the two-hour and 35-minute affair. He converted seven of 10 break chances.

Popyrin, who is sitting in 11th position in the ATP Race To Milan, is hoping a strong week in New York will propel him to a first Next Gen ATP Finals appearance. Making his US Open debut, he has claimed match wins at all four Grand Slams this year.

Next up for the surging Aussie is 24th seed Matteo Berretini. The Italian defeated Jordan Thompson 7-5, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-1 to reach the third round in New York for the first time. He is one win from matching his best Grand Slam result, achieved last month at Wimbledon.