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The Australian file has a French flavour this week as we look at how the 12 Australians – the most since 1998 – who competed in singles fared at the French Open.
ATP
For the first time in six Grand Slam appearances with Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios in the main draw, both were the last Australian men standing in singles.
After defeating Denis Istomin in straight sets, Kyrgios got a walkover into round 3 after Kyle Edmund withdrew from the event. That gave him a match-up against Andy Murray, and despite having chances throughout, he lost in straight sets to the British number 1.
Kokkinakis also lost in straight sets in the third round, this time to Novak Djokovic. The South Australian was competitive against Djokovic, but the Serbian always had another level.
The 19-year-old, in his main draw debut at the French Open, made headlines in the second round as he defeated fellow Australian Bernard Tomic. In five sets of incredible tennis, the world number 84 fought back from two sets to love down, and a break down in the final set, to win against the Australian number 1.
It was one of the matches of the tournament so far.
Fellow Australians Marinko Matosevic, Sam Groth and James Duckworth all lost in Round 1. Groth and Matosevic lost to clay court specialists in Pablo Cuevas and Thomaz Bellucci respectively. Duckworth lost in five to Andrea Arnaboldi, after having a match point in the third set.
WTA
In the women’s side, Sam Stosur was the only Australian to make the third round, and was defeated by Maria Sharapova on Friday night in straight sets.
It wasn’t a great tournament for Casey Dellacqua or Jarmila Gajdosova, who both lost in Round 1. Gajdosova lost to young French player Amandine Hesse, and Dellacqua was defeated by fellow Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic. Tomljanovic’s run was ended in the second round against Angelique Kerber.
Daria Gavrilova also made the second round, but an abdominal strain forced the Aussie to leave in tears after the end of the first. We wish her all the best in her recovery for Wimbledon.
ATP Challenger
After failing to qualify for the French Open, with a first round loss, John Millman went to Italy to continue his clay tour. It paid handsome dividends as the Queenslander made the final.
Along the way he impressively defeated Andrey Rublev and Thiemo De Bakker.
Millman, who is ranked 132 in the world, fell short of his fifth Challenger title, with a 6-4 6-2 loss to Inigo Cervantes.
The good news is that Millman will be at a career-high ranking after the French Open, and could make the top 100 if he does well at the Challenger event in Furth this week.
ITF
A whopping 51 Australians played this week in 29 ITF events around the world.
The men’s event in Croatia saw 11 Aussies involved, with 10 ladies playing the ITF event in Thailand.
This week saw plenty of success, as Omar Jasika, who is the reigning US Open junior champion, won the Korea F2 event in Changwon.
With rain playing havoc, the semi-final and the final were played on Sunday and Jasika, who is ranked 383 in the world, had no problems playing two matches in one day, winning his semi in straight sets, and then defeating Connor Smith 6-3 6-4 in the final.
The 18-year-old Victorian will be at a career-high ranking at the end of the French Open as well.
When you consider that Kokkinakis and Kyrgios both won their first ITF titles at the same age, the youngster is one to keep an eye on in the second half of 2015.
Won my first pro future circuit tournament after being in 2 finals already ?? 3rd time lucky ? #Nike #Technifibre pic.twitter.com/ARa570v1Ks
— omar jasika (@OJasika) May 31, 2015
In Croatia, Maverick Banes made the final on clay in Bol, but lost to local Duje Kekez in straight sets. Banes also made the doubles final with Queenslander Gavin Van Peperzeel, but also fall at the last hurdle.
In Italy, youngster Marc Polmans won the doubles title at the F11 event. Peter Luczak, who retired in 2012 and is now Polmans’ coach, teamed up with his young protégé to win his 11th doubles title.
It is Polmans’ third title, after winning two in Australia.
Great way to finish the week in Italy with winning the 10k doubles with Peter Luczak. Thx Luc for the great week! pic.twitter.com/pEbyC7jtMh
— marc polmans (@marcpolmans) May 29, 2015
The women’s scene wasn’t so successful, with Sally Peers’ semi-final appearance in Croatia the best result, while in Thailand Zoe Hives and Jelena Stojanovic made the quarters at the 10,000 Bangkok event.
This week
Australia still has a presence at the French Open in doubles with Sam Stosur, Casey Dellacqua, and the Rodionova sisters all one win away from the quarter finals. They could face each other later in the week, depending on results.
In the ATP Challenger scene, the grass season kicks off in Manchester, with Australians involved in most of the five events.
Finally, after a 12-month layoff because of an illicit drug ban, Brad Mousley return to competitive tennis in Turkey. It’s a long road back for the South Australian and he will be looking for a big show to win back some respect.
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