'I'm here now' - Brit Samuel goes from world No 1,871 to US Open second round

Britain's Toby Samuel is into the second round at Flushing Meadows where he takes on Czech 18th seed Jiri Lehecka; watch the US Open live on Sky Sports Tennis and Sky Sports+, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app

Britain's Toby Samuel has come a long way from the start of 2025 - rising from 1,871 in the world to the US Open second round.

Samuel, who came through qualifying to make his main draw debut at Flushing Meadows, needed just an hour and 32 minutes to beat the former world No 20 Tomas Machac and book his place in the second round.

The 23-year-old - dubbed the 'Winchester Rifle' due to his powerful serve - hammered down serves of up to 135mph to blow his Czech opponent away.

In doing so Samuel moved into the world's top 100 while earning £140,000, comfortably the biggest pay day of his career.

The win is the latest milestone in a remarkable rise for Samuel, who was ranked world No 1,871 in January 2025.

Since then, the former University of South Carolina alumnus has captured five ATP Challenger titles and reached his first ATP Tour semi-final at the Lexus Eastbourne Open in June.

"Yeah, it's kind of surreal," he said. "When I was obviously that ranking, I didn't even imagine I'd be playing these events this year.

"I was sort of hoping to be playing Challenger tournaments, and then obviously here now I've managed to carry on that form for the last year and haven't really looked back, so I'm just so happy I'm able to be in this situation now.

"I always had a good amount of belief because I was top at college for the last few years. I got to 400 and then I was injured, so that's obviously one of the reasons why my ranking was that low.

"I knew that I had the level to jump up and play here, but obviously not this fast.

"I've always believed in myself and obviously now it's paid off. I'm here now."

Life on the lowest rung of the tennis tour takes players to some weird and not-so-wonderful places, and Samuel recalled where he picked up his very first ranking point at a tournament in Guatemala in 2021 against Chilean player Michel Vernier and he won 13-11 in the third set to pocket $258 in prize money.

"It was 10pm at night, I was exhausted, I had five match points and I was just like to my mum, 'I want to fly home, I've got one point'.