Our hopes plummet

Only two Aussie men are left in French Open draw

FORMER French Open junior champion Alexei Popyrin and Marc Polmans are the only men left to fly the Australian flag at Roland Garros after three more of their country men made first-round exit sat the French Open.

Aleksandar Vukic’ s first main-draw grand slam appearance resulted in a three-set victory for his Spanish opponent Pedro Martinez, 7-5 6-4 6-0, after along rain delay.

Despite the loss, Sydneysider Vukic, 24, who earned his spot through qualifying, secured a rankings boost and about $130,000.

His loss came after John Millman’s straight-sets defeat to US Open semifinalist and 17th seed Pablo Carreno Bus ta, and James Duck worth also lost 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 on Monday to American Tommy Paul.

Their defeats mean no Australian male has won a set in five matches after Alex de Minaur and Jordan Thompson were both comprehensively rolled on day one.

Of the 11 Australians in the draw, only Astra Sharmaand Daria Gavrilova have so far progressed to the second round.

Popyrin and Polmans begin their campaign son Tuesday night.

Rafael Nadal began his latest attempt to pull even with great rival Roger Federer on 20 major titles by beating Egor Gerasimov of Belarus 6-4,6-4,6-2.

Despite the victory, N ad al’ s view of things at this pandemic-postponed event, reiterating that it is colder and slower than usual, and his preparation were less than ideal.

“The conditions are completely different than any other Roland Garros that we played,” he said of the re-scheduled event.