TRIGGER WARNING: This story contains discussions of suicide and mental illness

In the moments after qualifying for the US Open on Friday, Destanee Aiava burst into tears before hugging those who had supported her quest to return to the biggest stages in tennis.

There were moments where the 24-year-old, who was among the six Australians to qualify for the year’s last grand slam on a remarkable day at Flushing Meadows, never thought she would make a grand slam player. Just stepping out for training was a challenge in itself.

Aiava, who was considered one of Australia’s brightest hopes as a teenager, has dealt with suicidal thoughts at different stages throughout her life.

In an interview with News Corp Australia last year, she detailed how a trio of strangers assisted her on Easter Sunday in 2022 as she sat atop a bridge in an outer-Melbourne suburb determined to end her life.

“Even on the rails, I was fully aware of how I was acting and what I was doing I could still put myself in someone else’s shoes and be like, ‘If I was watching someone do this, I would not be driving past right now.’’. It is a very weird, disordered way of thinking,” she said.

On Friday, the Melburnian qualified for her first grand slam outside of Australia in style after previously receiving four wildcards into her home grand slam.

Pitted against former top 20 player Ana Konjuh in the final round of qualifying, Aiava played brilliantly to win 6-3 6-2, with her emotional reaction following her success an indication of the pitted-path she has trod through to this stage.

On a superb day for Australia in US Open qualifiers, with five women making it to the main draw out of qualifying in a record-breaking endeavour, Aiava’s triumph was just one story to celebrate. Her reward is a clash with former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

Joining Aiava, who held two set points against then-world No.1 Simona Halep in the first round of the Australian Open in 2018, are four Australian women and an Aussie male with a remarkable tail of resilience.

Maya Joint is a richly-talented teenager who was raised in America but plays under the Australian flag.

She is surging towards the top 100 and will make her grand slam debut at Flushing Meadows after a dominant 6-2 6-1 victory over Hailey Baptiste. She plays German veteran Laura Siegemund in the first round.

Queenslander Priscilla Hon, 26, will play in her first US Open since 2019 after showing great fight to defeat qualifying top seep Kamilla Rakhimova, who is ranked 78, 7-6 (4) 6-7 (2) 6-4 in a significant win for her career.

But her challenge is also difficult, with her first round encounter against dual-Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, who clinched the Cincinnati Masters last week.

Veteran Arina Rodionova, who is enjoying a career-best year aged 34, will play in her third US Open after defeating Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-4 6-2. She faces Xinyu Wang in the opening round.

Kimberly Birrell, who has overcome career-threatening elbow injuries, defeated American Julieta Pareja 6-3 6-3 to set up a first round encounter against Wimbledon semi-finalist and Olympics silver medallist Donna Vekic.

Li Tu, who was considered one of Australia’s best junior talents and played alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis as a kid, will also make his US Open debut.

After returning to professional tennis at the start of the pandemic after returning in his early 20s, the 28-year-old defeated talented Dutchman Jesper de Jong 3-6 6-1 7-5 to book his first grand slam appearance away from Melbourne.

His prize will be an outing on a major show court at Flushing Meadows against Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz, a four-time major winner who is seeking his third straight grand slam title after triumphs at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

The success of the Australians on Thursday in New York boosts the local contingent playing the US Open to 20 and it is the first time since 2011 when the nation has had qualifiers in both the men’s and women’s event.

World No.10 Alex de Minaur heads the 12-strong Australian contingent in the men’s draw, while the qualifying success has expanded the number of Aussie women in the main draw to seven.

De Minaur, who is returning from a hip injury which forced him to withdraw from a Wimbledon quarterfinal against Novak Djokovic six weeks ago, has drawn powerful American Marcos Giron in a challenging first round test.

Alexei Popyrin, who is seeded at a major for the first time after a stunning success in the Montreal Masters, is pitted against South Korean Soonwoo Kwon.

Rinky Hijikata, who fell in a quarterfinal in a tournament in Winston-Salem on Thursday, will play Alexander Davidovich Fokina.

The Sydneysider reached the fourth round in a big breakthrough at major level last year but faces a challenging test against the Spaniard.

Adam Walton will make his US Open debut against French wildcard Alexandre Muller, while Jordan Thompson will face another Frenchman in Constant Lestienne.

Fellow debutant Tristan Schoolkate, who received a wildcard, plays Japan’s Taro Daniel, while veteran James Duckworth faces Italian Flavio Cobolli.

Thanasi Kokkinakis will play dual-grand slam finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas in one of the more intriguing first round matches, while Chris O’Connell has drawn Chilean Nicolas Jarry.

Sydneysiders Aleks Vukic and Max Purcell face each other in the first round.

In the women’s draw, Ajla Tomljanovic and Daria Saville will face qualifiers in their first round matches. Tomljanovic, who was a quarterfinalist in New York two years ago, will play American Ann Li, while Saville plays Japan’s Ena Shibahara.

Western Australian teenager Taylah Preston, who received a wildcard, will make her US Open debut against experienced Russian Anastasia Pavylchenkova.

RESULTS

Women’s qualifying singles, final round

[16] Arina Rodionova (AUS) d Mananchaya Sawangkaew (THA) 6-4 6-2

[32] Maya Joint (AUS) d [3] Hailey Baptiste (USA) 6-2 6-1

Priscilla Hon (AUS) d [1] Kamilla Rakhimova 7-6(4) 6-7(2) 6-4

Destanee Aiava (AUS) d Ana Konjuh (CRO) 6-3 6-2

Kimberly Birrell (AUS) d [WC] Julieta Pareja (USA) 6-3 6-3

[12] Marina Bassols Ribera d Talia Gibson (AUS) 6-3 6-4

Men’s qualifying singles, final round

Li Tu (AUS) d [6] Jesper de Jong (NED) 3-6 6-1 7-5