h1 = openfig('test1.fig','reuse'); % open existing/ saved figure
ax1 = gca; % get handle to axes of figure
h2 = figure; % create new figure
s1 = subplot(2,1,1); % create and get handle to the subplot axes
fig1 = get(ax1,'children'); % get handle to all the children in the figure
copyobj(fig1,s1); % copy children to new parent axes i.e. the subplot axes
