Australia's US Open tennis prospects have received a boost with Samantha Stosur, Lleyton Hewitt, Marinko Matosevic and even big-serving battler Sam Groth all on the up in the countdown to the last grand slam of the year.
Stosur, the 2011 US Open champion, beat American Varvara Lepchenko 7-5 6-1 in Carlsbad for her first hardcourt win since March - and first win anywhere since Wimbledon last month.
Down to No.13 in the world rankings, Stosur was granted a wildcard after losing to Olga Govortsova in straight sets last week in the opening round in Stanford.
That was her first match on a hard court since withdrawing from her quarter-final at Indian Wells with an ankle injury three months ago.
Stosur's victory set up a likely second-round clash with her part-time German doubles partner Julia Goerges.
Hewitt on Tuesday rose seven spots to No.57 in the world, the veteran's highest ranking in two-and-a-half years.
The 32-year-old former world No.1 has won 12 of his past 16 matches, reaching the final in Newport and losing a tight three-set semi-final last week to eventual champion John Isner in Atlanta.
With precious few points to defend, the injury-free Hewitt can continue his push up the rankings this week in Washington and at Masters Series events in Cincinnati and Montreal before the US Open starts on August 26 in New York.
He will open in Washington against American Ryan Harrison and could face top-seeded fellow former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in the second round.
Matosevic and Groth are already through to the second round.
Matosevic eliminated American James Blake 6-2 7-6 (8-6), while Groth posted his first main-draw tour win in four years.
The 25-year-old qualifier beat American wildcard Denis Kudla 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 to book what shapes as an explosive second-round showdown with power-serving Canadian fourth seed Milos Raonic.
Raonic led the ATP Tour last year for both the highest percentage of first-serve points won and most serving games won, but Groth boasts an even more distinguished serving record from 2012.
The Victorian blasted the fastest serve in tennis history, a missile clocked at 263km/h during a second-tier tournament in South Korea.
Until then, Groth was better known as the former husband of fellow Australian player Jarmila Gajdosova.
Since the start of last year, though, he has added substance to his awesome serving firepower to soar more than 500 places up the rankings to No.228 in the world.
Groth's main-draw win in Washington, just the third of his career, will further boost his ranking and should secure him a place in the US Open qualifying draw.
Australian No.1 Bernard Tomic will launch his title bid in Washington on Wednesday against Belgian David Goffin.
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