While a handful of top-ranked Britons did not have to go through the rigmarole of US Open qualifying as they earned direct entry into the main draw, others had to fight their way through the preliminary sections to reach the final Grand Slam of the year.
Before the first ace was served in qualifying, only five British players - Katie Boulter, Jack Draper, Emma Raducanu, Dan Evans and Harriet Dart - were guaranteed a place in the main draw, as Cameron Norrie withdrew injured and Andy Murray retired after the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Across the men's and women's qualifiers, a total of 10 British hopefuls sought to join their compatriots in the main event and set up a potential heavyweight meeting in the first round, after the draw was made on Friday.
However, 90% of them were sent packing at the preliminary hurdle, with the only qualifying victor for GB being Jan Choinski, who will make his US Open main-draw debut next week after a monumental effort.
The 28-year-old made light work of Argentina's Pedro Cachin in his first qualifying battle before progressing through his second-round tie with Valentin Vacherot as the 13th seed retired injured, setting up a date with Maxime Cressy for a coveted main-draw place.
In a topsy-turvy and tantalising affair, Choinski miraculously saved two match points to prevail 6-0 6-7[5] 7-6[10], and he has avoided one of the trickier draws in round one, where he meets Spain's Roberto Carballes Baena.
Heather Watson among Britons eliminated in US Open qualifying
© Imago
Choinski's success could not be replicated by any of his nine qualifying compatriots, though, as elsewhere in the men's section, Billy Harris made it to the final round and took the first set against Kazakhstan's Timofey Skatov before losing in three.
Paul Jubb overcame countryman Jacob Fearnley with ease in the first round, but he proceeded to lose to Finland's Otto Virtanen - Liam Broady's conqueror - in the second, while Oliver Crawford was knocked out by the USA's JJ Wolf.
In the women's qualifying section, former British number one Heather Watson strode past Clervie Ngounoue first up before suffering a 1-6 4-6 defeat to Belarusian second seed Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Francesca Jones - who has been plagued by injury in recent times - retired at 4-6 1-4 down against Ena Shibahara in round two, while Sonay Kartal and Lily Miyazaki both made it to the final qualifying stage.
However, Kartal - fresh from reaching the third round at Wimbledon - failed to build on a strong start against Ukraine's Yuliia Starodubtseva, losing 6-2 3-6 3-6, while 31st seed Miyazaki lost 1-6 2-6 6 to Germany's Eva Lys.
Ben Knapton
