It has been a relatively successful start to Roland Garros for our Aussies with Jason Kubler, Ajla Tomljanovic, and Daria Saville all progressing past the opening round, and both John Millman and Alex De Minaur yet to complete their matches.
[Q] Jason Kubler (AUS) def Denis Kudla (USA) 7-6(5), 7-6(2), 7-6(3)
Jason Kubler made it four wins on the trot in Paris, after he initially came through qualifying to reach his first career Roland Garros main draw. The Aussie saved a match point in his second round qualifying match and has since reeled off seven straight sets, including a massive main draw victory.
Kubler defeated American Denis Kudla in three tiebreak sets to record his first top 100 win in over a year. The former world number one junior capitalised on his service games, winning 77% of points behind his first serve and hitting 10 aces to move past Kudla and into the Roland Garros second round.
The win further boosts Kubler’s strong clay season to 19-4 overall, including two titles at ITF level.
The 29-year-old, who has suffered endless knee injuries throughout his career including six surgeries, is finally getting an injury free run, and is taking full advantage.
The victory is just Kubler’s second in a Grand Slam main draw and elevates his ranking back inside the ATP top 150 for the first time since March 2019.
He will now face 10th seed Cam Norrie tomorrow night in what will be an even tougher test for the in-form Kubler.
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) def [5] Anett Kontaveit (EST) 7-6(5), 7-5
Ajla Tomljanovic scored a major upset on day two of Roland Garros, defeating 5th seed Anett Kontaveit in straight sets.
Tomljanovic has often displayed her ability to match it with the best but has constantly been unable to convert that into major scalps. However, the Aussie finally put it all together in Paris, bringing up her second career top 5 win.
The 29-year-old took a hard-fought first set in a tiebreak, winning 46 points to her opponent’s 45. Tomljanovic then went up 4-2 in the second before finding herself down a match point at 4-5 and needing to dig deep. And dig she did, claiming the final three games, and in doing so, scoring one of the biggest wins of her career.
Tomljanovic will now meet Varvara Gracheva in the next round, who is coming off a tight win over fellow Australian Astra Sharma.
[WC] Daria Saville (AUS) def [Q] Valentini Grammatikopoulou (GRE) 6-1, 6-2
After being awarded a wildcard on the back of her brilliant start to 2022, Dasha Saville comfortably overcame her Greek opponent to start her French Open campaign.
Saville, who suffered achilles tendon surgery last year forcing her off the tour, is now 12-5 since leaving Australia in February.
The 28-year-old will face former world number two Petra Kvitova in the second round, where Saville holds a positive 3-2 head-to-head record.
The clash looms as one of great importance, with 6th seed Ons Jabeur having fallen in the first round, opening up that section of the women’s draw.
Six Aussies were unable to find wins first up in Paris, all falling to European opponents.
Sharma, Kokkinakis, and O’Connell were all able to claim a set in their respective matches, but unfortunately none managed to go any further, despite each enjoying tight battles.
The results were as follows:
Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) def by Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5)
Jordan Thompson (AUS) def by [5] Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6-2, 6-2, 6-2
[WC] Chris O’Connell (AUS) def by Aljaz Bedene (SVN) 6-2, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) def by Fabio Fognini (ITA) 6-4, 7-5, 6-4
James Duckworth (AUS) def by Mikael Ymer (SWE) 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
Astra Sharma (AUS) def by Varvara Gracheva 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
Two more Aussies are yet to complete their first-round matches and will both be in action later tonight:
John Millman is up against 27th seed Sebastian Korda where play was stopped at 1-0 in the opening set. They will resume at approximately 8:30pm tonight. (Melbourne time)
Alex De Minaur will also kick off his Roland Garros campaign against Frenchman Hugo Gaston, at approximately midnight into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
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