In a rematch of their all-Aussie Rabat encounter, Ajla Tomljanovic defeated Maja Joint, with Daria Kasatkina and Alexei Popyrin additionally advancing at Roland Garros.
Paris, France, 27 Could 2025 | AAP
As if motivated by all the joy over the nation’s latest tennis star Maya Joint, the evergreen Ajla Tomljanovic obtained “offended” and reminded Australia of her personal enduring high quality as she handed a lesson to her teenage pal at Roland Garros.
On a day when Alexei Popyrin ended his drought in Paris and Daria Kasatkina savoured her first Grand Slam win below the Australian flag, the sight of three of the green-and-gold brigade powering into the second spherical even earlier than Alex de Minaur makes his bow on Tuesday offered many positives.
It was a more durable day for six of the opposite 9 Australians in motion on a manic Monday within the French capital, with Aleksandar Vukic, Chris O’Connell, Daria Saville, Kim Birrell and Jordan Thompson all succumbing.
However delight of place went to Tomljanovic, who at age 32 seemed as sharp as she’s ever achieved in outplaying the brand new teenage Morocco Open champion Joint 6-1 6-3.
Joint, the 19-year-old Queenslander who’s had a whirlwind 72 hours whereas profitable her first two WTA titles in singles and doubles in Morocco, had defeated Tomljanovic three days earlier in Rabat, when former Australian No.1 Tomljanovic withdrew when a set down with an belly concern.
> READ: Pleasure for Joint – Maja claims first WTA title
However the three-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist seemed a very completely different proposition on Monday as she switched to all-out assault in opposition to the 19-year-old Roland Garros debutant on the quicker Paris clay.
Requested if she had a degree to show, Tomljanovic defined: “My coach form of gave me a extremely good pep speak – ‘You’ve obtained to get offended, get decided’ – and it actually labored in the present day.
“Maya had been taking part in so properly, I had a number of days to consider it and knew if I don’t come out this manner on the assault, it’s going to be actually powerful. It’s simply good to see all the pieces repay once I play the fitting method.”
Tomljanovic set a high-profile match in opposition to fourth seed Jasmine Paolini, the Italian who’s grow to be a giant favorite with the locals since reaching the ultimate final yr.
Kastakina, taking part in in her first Slam since switching her allegiance in March, needed to work laborious to subdue the world’s prime doubles participant, Czech Katerina Siniakova, 6-1 3-6 6-2.
“To play my first Grand Slam below the Australian flag, it’s massive honour. Yeah, [I] simply really feel tremendous completely happy and proud to additionally win the primary match,” mentioned the 2022 Roland Garros semifinalist.
Earlier, Popyrin had ended his difficult sequence at Roland Garros for his first opening-round win on the claycourt Slam in six years as he was in command in opposition to Yoshihito Nishioka till the Japanese needed to retire with an injured again whereas trailing 7-5 6-4 1-2.
Popyrin reckoned it was a “good feeling” to say the primary 2025 match for the 16-strong Australian contingent, the largest at Roland Garros for 35 years.
“I really feel like my recreation is beginning to come again to me, the outcomes are beginning to present a bit extra, there’s extra consistency and match wins each week. That’s actually vital,” mentioned the twenty fifth seed, who tackles one other left-hander, Chilean Alejandro Tabilo, subsequent.
> READ: Popyrin progresses to Roland Garros second spherical
Thompson bemoaned one other blip in a “brutal season” throughout which he’s suffered a ruptured plantar fascia in his foot, a torn indirect, and a groin damage, as Czech Jiri Lehecka claimed a 6-4 6-2 6-1 win of their first spherical.
“The one optimistic from in the present day is the physique obtained by unscathed, however I suppose that’s as a result of I copped a whipping,” lamented the 31-year-old.
Seeded opponents proved an excessive amount of for O’Connell, overwhelmed 7-5 6-3 7-6 (7-3) by the No.22 Ugo Humbert, Vukic, defeated 6-4 6-4 6-4 by No.24 Karen Khachanov, and qualifier Saville, who was outclassed 6-2 6-1 by Australian Open champ Madison Keys.
Gold Coast’s Kim Birrell additionally discovered the in-form Romanian Jaqueline Cristian, who’d been overwhelmed by Joint within the Rabat ultimate, too powerful in a 6-1 6-0 loss.
AUSSIES IN ACTION
RESULTS – Roland Garros Day 2
Males’s singles, first spherical
[25] Alexei Popyrin (AUS) d Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 7-5 6-4 1-2 ret
Jiri Lehecka (CZE) d Jordan Thompson (AUS) 6-4 6-2 6-1
[24] Karen Khachanov d Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) 6-4 6-4 6-4
[22] Ugo Humbert (FRA) d Chris O’Connell (AUS) 7-5 6-3 7-6(3)
Girls’s singles, first spherical
[17] Daria Kasatkina (AUS) d Katerina Siniakova (CZE) 6-1 3-6 6-2
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) d Maya Joint (AUS) 6-1 6-3
[7] Madison Keys (USA) d [Q] Daria Saville (AUS) 6-2 6-1
Jaqueline Cristian (ROU) d Kimberly Birrell (AUS) 6-1 6-0
COMING UP – Roland Garros Day 3
Males’s singles, first spherical
[9] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v Laslo Djere (SRB) – first match, Courtroom 14 (from 7pm AEST)
James Duckworth (AUS) v Alexander Bublik (KAZ) – second match, Courtroom 12
Adam Walton (AUS) v [Q] Maximilian Marterer (GER) – third match, Courtroom 12
Girls’s singles, first spherical
Olivia Gadecki (AUS) v [2] Coco Gauff (USA) – second match, Courtroom Philippe-Chatrier
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