Woodman wins big in US Open quad singles debut | 4 September, 2025 | All News | News and Features

Australian teenage star Jin Woodman beats No.4 seed Ahmet Kaplan to advance to the quarterfinals of the US Open quad singles event.

New York, USA, 4 September 2025 | Matt Trollope

Jin Woodman avenged his Australian Open 2025 defeat to Ahmet Kaplan on Thursday morning (AEST) in New York, defeating the No.4 seed to reach the US Open quad singles quarterfinals.

The 16-year-old produced an impressively powerful performance, shrugging off the loss of the second set to run out a 6-1 4-6 6-2 victor.

He is the only Australian remaining in the quad singles event, after countrymen Ben Wenzel and Heath Davidson – who received brutal opening-round draws – fell to top-two seeds Niels Vink and Sam Schroder, respectively.

Woodman sealed victory against Kaplan with three consecutive winners, among 30 overall, and flung his racquet in the air in celebration.

“I’m kind of speechless right now,” Woodman told tennis.com.au.

“When I saw the draw and [that] I’m playing him again, I knew this could be my chance. So I’m very happy for myself, because all the effort since Australian Open time, all the way to the US, has really gone somewhere good.

“After my loss in Australia, we decided: ‘Alright, go back to the footage and look for the key points to work on’. We worked on it for a lot of days and weeks to lead up to September.”

Woodman’s improvement has been extraordinary, given this time last year he was competing in the US Open junior division. When he faced Kaplan in the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park, the Turk was a comfortable 6-2 6-4 winner.

It’s even more astounding when considering the severe injury he sustained after the Australian summer events, preventing him from competing again until July.

“After the three tournaments in Australia, I was supposed to go to Korea and Japan, but I fell off my day chair in the kitchen and fractured my femur. That took me out for a long time,” he said.

“When the doctors told me no tennis for a while, it kind of hurt me, because tennis is my sport, I love this sport. Being out of tennis and just doing nothing but recovering, [I] really struggled. On TV I could see everyone playing and wished I could be there.

“[I got] a lot of support with my school, my parents and coaches, saying ‘you’ll get there, don’t worry, you’ll be there soon’.”

He returned to action in Queensland at a pair of tournaments in Brisbane, playing in both the junior and professional draws. When he won the second Brisbane tournament in the open-age division – beating Wenzel and Davidson in the final two rounds for his first professional ITF title – it proved an invaluable shot of confidence.

“[I was] just like, ‘it doesn’t really matter if I win or lose… There was nothing to expect because [I’m] someone who’s been injured,” he said. “Then winning the two tournaments [both juniors and seniors] made me [think], wow, I don’t know what to say.”

Woodman has been flying ever since. He reached the semifinals in Geneva and then the final in College Park before his latest success at the US Open, meaning he has won eight of his past 10 matches.

Even though he lost the second set on Wednesday, Woodman’s fighting qualities were admirable as he saved seven set points against Kaplan, who finally converted his eighth to send the match to a decider.

By dominating the third set, the young Australian faces Brit Andy Lapthorne for a place in his first Grand Slam singles semifinal.

“He got me in the first year of my seniors [in 2023], 0 and 0. Can’t really complain; he was too good that day,” recalled Woodman, who has risen from world No.20 to the brink of the top 10 in 2025.

“But this year [at the Victorian Wheelchair Open] was my second time playing him… I managed to get him in two [sets].

“Same reaction: so happy for myself, honestly.”