While Jordan Thompson’s US Open campaign ended in the fourth round against Alex de Minaur, he takes many big-picture positives from a stellar American swing.
New York, USA , 3 September 2024 | Vivienne Christie
The positives will firmly outweigh any negatives when the time comes for Jordan Thompson to reflect on his career-best 2024 season.
From a first ATP singles title at Los Cabos in February to multiple wins over top-20 opponents and former Grand Slam champions (Rafael Nadal at Brisbane and Andy Murray at Queen’s) one high has followed another for the 30-year-old Sydneysider, who arrived at the US Open in career-best form.
And while it wasn’t quite enough to earn a Grand Slam seeding – Thompson was ranked just one spot outside that elite group when the draw was set – the world No.32 was the highest-ranked unseeded competitor in the men’s singles event.
Thompson soon showed why in a ninth main-draw singles campaign at Flushing Meadows, where he matched his best Grand Slam performance in progressing to the final 16 without the loss of a set.
There, he fought hard against close mate Alex de Minaur before bowing out in four sets.
Little brother takes down big brother 🇦🇺💚💛@alexdeminaur advances to his second @usopen quarterfinal, defeating compatriot @jordanthommmo2 #GoAussies pic.twitter.com/48cSdXuf3d
— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) September 3, 2024
Most notable for Thompson at Flushing Meadows was his second-round upset of No.7 seed Hubert Hurkacz, adding a second top-10 win to the one he’d achieved over Alexander Zverev during his title run in February.
Thompson was clutch under pressure in the biggest win of his career against Hurkacz, recovering from a 2-5 first-set deficit and saving a set point in the third set to complete a 7-6(2) 6-1 7-5 victory.
No such fight was required in a business-like win over No.30 seed Matteo Arnaldi, with Thompson once again showing his competitive spirit against De Minaur.
> READ: De Minaur triumphs in all-Aussie US Open fourth-round battle
“It’s a great tournament. Three straight-sets wins over quality players as well – I mean, I beat Hubi, beat Matteo as well, both in straight sets – playing some of the tbest tennis I’ve played,” he reflected.
“Just ran into a tough opponent today. Still, (I) had my chances and didn’t quite get there, but I take a lot of confidence out of that.”
After his top-10 ranked countryman claimed a 6-0…
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