Alex de Minaur and Thanasi Kokkinakis, the main man and the marathon man, have dispelled the gloom in the Australian tennis ranks with gloriously contrasting victories on a long, rain-interrupted day at the French Open.
But that swift demolition job was only the support act before Thanasi Kokkinakis earned a remarkable see-saw five-set triumph – 4-6 7-6 (10-8) 6-3 5-7 6-3 – over his good friend and stablemate Alexei Popyrin in the all-Aussie ‘popcorn match’ that concluded under lights in front of a packed outside-court crowd.
The double success guaranteed two Australians in the second round after two wretched winless days in which the green-and-gold challenge had suffered five defeats and an injury withdrawal.
Meanwhile de Minaur hung around for five hours waiting to get on court on Tuesday before handing out a lesson on the wet clay to American teen tyro Alex Michelsen, beating him 6-1 6-0 6-2 to break the Aussie win drought in virtuoso style.
The second Australian finally went through at 11.37pm but it was only deep into the last half-hour of the four-hour 24 minutes epic that Kokkinakis finally turned the screw over his pal Popyrin in a big-hitting slogathon that felt as if could have gone either way.
But Kokkinakis, who’s suffered both heartbreak and joy in epic slam five-setters before, this time roared from 2-0 down in the final set to earn the win that sets him up for a potential third visit to the Paris slam third round, as he meets Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri in the second.
For the Greeks, sixth seed Maria Sakkari suffered an upset loss to France’s Varvara Gracheva in the first round 6-3, 4-6, 3-6 while Stefanos Tsitsipas is through to the second round.
Tsitispas pulled through a tough opening set before speeding to an ultimately comfortable first-round win on Monday at Roland Garros.
The ninth-seeded Greek fended off a set point in the opening set before securing a 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-1 triumph against Marton Fucsovics.
“The beginning of it was quite tough,” said Tsitsipas said after his two-hour, 20-minute win.
“He came in with a lot of confidence and I felt that in his tennis. Having to deal with that in the beginning was not an easy task, but I saved a set point and fought my way back into the match.”
A finalist at the clay-court major in 2021, Tsitsipas will take on Germany’s Daniel Altmaier in the second round in Paris. The 25-year-old is now 14-3 on clay at tour-level this season, a tally that includes lifting the Monte-Carlo trophy for the third time.
Tsitsipas will also feature in doubles action teaming with his brother Petros and in mixed doubles with his partner Paula Badosa.
The two recently split up but now days after the decided to get back together they’ll be appearing on the main stage together for the first time.
With AAP
