Australia’s Astra Sharma and Marc Polmans had lost their round three qualifying matches only to get a lifeline into the the French Open as lucky losers.
Daria Gavrilova was playing in the main draw thanks to a protected ranking.
It was Sharma and Polmans that made the most of their good fortune by racking up first round wins along with Gavrilova.
All of the higher ranked Australians tumbled out of the first round, many in straight set losses.
Defending champion Ash Barty had decided to sit out the tournament on health grounds and due to the fact that her coach had not been allowed into Queensland to work on her preparation.
Sharma was the first to get a win when she defeated Russia’s world no. 58 Anna Blinkova 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 to advance to the second round at Roland Garros for the time.
Gavrilova made a return to Grand Slam action after an injury layoff. She defeated Ukraine’s world no. 28 Dayana Yastremska 6-4, 6-3.
Polmans dominated early in his match against France’s world no. 38 Ugo Humbert taking the first two sets 6-2, 6-2.
Humbert had gone into this match with good form in Rome and Hamburg where at both tournaments he reached the third round.
The Frenchman fought back to take the third set. Polmans now might have been thinking about two previous painful five-set losses at Grand Slams after holding a two sets to nil lead.
The Australian didn’t that that get to him as he fought hard to get ahead in the fourth set. He would find himself serving for the match at 5-3.
After two match points were lost, Polmans finally closed out the match when he forced an error from Humbert. The final score was 6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
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