Aussies fare badly at French Open
JASON Kubler was the lone Australian winner on the opening day of the French Open.
Kubler battled through qualifying to earn his Roland Garros debut before ousting American Denis Kudla in three tiebreaks, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-3), to continue his charge back up the rankings.
The former world No.91, who slipped to 305 in the world midlast year, roared with delight as one final backhand down the line delivered him victory.
The 28-year-old’s triumph followed defeats for fellow Aussies Thanasi Kokkinakis, Alexei Popyrin, Chris O’Connell and Astra Sharma, who lost a 4-6 6-4 7-5 heartbreaker to 71st-ranked Varvara Gracheva after serving for the match in the final set.
“I don’t know if I saved the day, (but) I’m personally super-happy I got through,” Kubler said.
“It’s only the second time I’ve won a main-draw match, which in itself is pretty exciting.”
O’Connell bowed out 6-2 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 to Slovenian Aljaz Bedene after converting only two of his 12 break points.
Popyrin, who won a claycourt Challenger tournament in the lead-up, went down 6-4 7-5 6-4 to Italian veteran Fabio Fognini, while Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas eliminated Kokkinakis 6-4 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5).