Before a ball was served in the first round at the French Open the draw allowed for at least one Australian to reach the second round. That was before Nick Kyrgios withdrew to save his elbow from the pressure of clay court tennis.
In stepped Marco Trungelliti from Argentina who drove all the way from Barcelona, a nine to ten-hour journey, to defeat Bernard Tomic.
After Tomic had reached the main draw through the qualifying there were seven Australians participating in the men’s singles tournament.
At the end of round one, all had fallen.
John Millman lost in straight sets to the no. 24 seed Denis Shapovolov 7-5, 6-4, 6-2.
Matt Ebden and Jordan Thompson went the closest to advancing, they both lost in five sets. Ebden lost a rain-delayed match against Thomas Fabbiano 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. Thompson lost to the Norwegian qualifier Casper Ruud 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 6-3.
James Duckworth put in a decent effort against Maric Cilic, the no. 3 seed. Duckworth was returning from a long break after foot surgery. He lost 6-3, 7-5, 7-6(4).
That left Alex de Minaur as the last Australian with a chance of advancing to the second round. The young Australian faced Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund. The Brit was always on top and ran out a 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 winner.
Most of the Australians will be happy to move to the grass courts that beckon.
