Alex de Minaur is the sole Australian left alive in singles at Roland Garros after marathon man Thanasi Kokkinakis finally hit the wall to end a taxing French Open, but not before giving American No. 1 Taylor Fritz an almighty scare in another epic finishing near midnight.
While de Minaur rallied brilliantly against Jan-Lennard Struff to reach the second week in Paris for the first time, Kokkinakis once again started slowly before surging midway through the match, only for the No. 12 seed to find enough in the thriller.
It was another rain-riddled day in the French capital, which resulted in lengthy delays and also saw the reigning champion Novak Djokovic’s night session appearance against Lorenzo Musetti delayed until a 10.30pm start.
With the juniors set to begin on Sunday featuring Australian siblings Emerson and Hayden Jones, there is further good news, with predictions the sun might finally be ready to shine over Paris.
But don’t rush to replace the umbrellas with sunscreen yet, for the forecast accuracy has been fickle all week.
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THE PENNY HAS DROPPED FOR KOKKINAKIS DESPITE HEARTBREAKING LOSS
From the moment Thanasi Kokkinakis set foot on to Rod Laver Arena to play Nick Kyrgios in the 2013 Australian Open boys final, it was apparent the nation had two emerging talents with the potential to take it to the world’s best players.
The pair, who reunited nine years later to claim the Australian Open doubles title, have not quite reached the heights many expected of them but they have continued to demonstrate that when they are at their best, they are capable of challenging the stars of the game.
The sidelined Kyrgios is a Wimbledon finalist who would have a top-10 peak ranking to his name bar for the tour’s decision to strip ranking points from the 2022 edition at the All England Lawn Tennis Club after the tournament banned Russian and Belarusian players.
Kokkinakis has a win over Roger Federer in the 2018 Miami Masters, when the Swiss champion was the world’s top-ranked player, and has won an ATP title in his hometown while also representing Australia with distinction in Davis Cup.
But after missing several years to injury and illness – a stanza between 2016 and 2021 he described this week as a “lost period” – the 28-year-old might just be about to enter a period of his career where he delivers on his promise.
The right-hander’s performance against Fritz from the third set onwards on Saturday was superb and, if he can find a way to retain his focus through the entirety of a match, it is clear he has the potential to progress into the second week of grand slams.
“I’ve always thought that he’s had so many injury issues, but if he can play three five setters in a row on clay and stay healthy after this, then I think it’s a really good sign for him staying healthy for long periods of time in the future,” Fritz said.
“(That gives him) the opportunity to play and get his ranking up (and) with his serve and his forehand, he’s an extremely dangerous player and definitely should be ranked higher.”
It may not happen at Wimbledon, despite his superb serve and talent at the net.
The right-hander has won only one match from three previous appearances at the All England Club and admitted he still has mental scars from a bad fall back in 2015, not long after he played Novak Djokovic in the third round of Roland Garros while still a teenager.
But if he can retain his fitness, and that no longer appears as big an “if” given his resilience over the past two seasons, there is no reason why he cannot enjoy a breakthrough on hard courts in Melbourne and in New York or back in Paris.
“I think I’m a lot closer than my ranking would suggest,” he said.
“That has been the case probably (for) a long part of my career. But you know, I’ve proven that with a lot of tough guys and I have had some good wins.
“But rankings rewards consistency as well and that’s something that … hasn’t been my strongest sort of attribute. Going forward, I know when my game is on and my level is there, I can match it with almost anyone. I was right there today.”
His inability to string together seasons is a reason why the powerful Aussie, who retains his place inside the top 100, has never been ranked higher than 65 but with relatively few points to defend in coming months, Kokkinakis should be aiming to push to the top 50.
In another encouraging sign that points to his desire, he has stressed repeatedly over the past week that he is determined to make up for lost time.
“I feel kind of old but I’m also young in terms of tennis,” he said.
“There were a lot of results that I could have had at that time, but I’m trying to make up for lost time and see how I go. (I want to) try to get the most out of myself for whatever I have left.”
DE MINAUR’S BIG BREAKTHROUGH … AS HE PREPARES FOR A DIFFERENT TOURNAMENT
Alex de Minaur has been at Roland Garros for a week on his eighth visit to the clay court grand slam, but he is entering new ground on Monday.
It is not just because he has made the second round of the French Open for the first time in a significant breakthrough, though that in itself is grounds for celebration.
Rather it is because he expects his clash against former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev to progress without interruption, even if the forecast of improved weather proves to be false.
Because of Medvedev’s lofty standing as the No. 4 seed, the Rd of 16 match with feature on either Court Philippe Chatrier or Court Suzanne Lenglen, which both feature roofs that have enabled the big-name stars to progress without disorder this week.
De Minaur’s former Davis Cup teammate John Millman pointed out earlier in the week that the top-ranked players were at a clear advantage at tournaments where rain was a factor given the certainty their match would occur, regardless of what unfolds during a day.
“I’m not too sure how I’m going to deal with playing a full match from start to finish. It’s going to be a new experience,” he said.
“(It is a) completely different tournament now. Again, it is, you know, two different tournaments, because obviously the seeds, they’ve earned the right to play on these courts, but they’ve had fairly routine schedules, matches, no stop-starts like we had today.
“I’m looking forward to (it). I have won enough matches to put myself on a good court. So I’m quite excited again to play Medi, and these are the types of matches I wanted to be playing at the start of the week, and I’m excited to put myself in that position again.”
Medvedev, who has played his past two matches under a roof on Court Suzanne Lenglen, has no doubt there is an advantage.
“If you play under the roof, first of all, (you know) a little bit when your match starts, when it’s going to finish, so you don’t lose time and days,” he said.
“So for sure it makes your life easier. I’m sure in five years we’re going to have maybe three roofs. In ten years maybe four. So it’s going to be better for everyone. Conditions, I think they are different, but the bigger the court, the less the roof matters for conditions.”
MEDVEDEV FALLS FOR A FOWL
Medvedev has already turned his eyes towards meeting the Demon on Monday but also showed his soft side after a four-set victory over Tomas Machac when playing under the roof on Saturday.
The Russian star was full of praise for the actions of umpire Damien Dumusois after he rescued a pigeon that landed on the court during the third round match and then failed to move for a period.
The pigeon, which appeared injured, hopped away when the umpire initially tried to grab it but Dumusois was finally able to grasp it before gently carrying it to safely in a towel to an assistant standing courtside.
“I hope the bird was OK. It was not looking good. I think maybe something (was wrong) with the wing,” Medvedev said.
“The referee did a good job. He was very gentle. I think (that’s) important. I hope the bird is fine. Maybe they’ll take it to the vet clinic or something. I don’t know. We need to ask what happened after.”
Medvedev had reason to thank the dramatic rescue which landed shortly after he had played an 18-minute service game.
“I was like, ‘Oh, my God, if it gives me an extra minute to breathe, it would be perfect,’ and it did. For me, it was a good moment,” he said.
PARIS JOINS MELBOURNE AND NEW YORK IN HOSTING GRAND SLAMS THAT NEVER SLEEP
The rain over much of the past week has played havoc with schedules, with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic the latest to be forced into a post-midnight finish after an interesting scheduling decision on Saturday in Paris.
The defending champion did not walk on to Court Philippe Chatrier until after 10.30pm for his clash against Lorenzo Musetti, who took the first two sets from him when they clashed on the same court in Paris three years ago.
Several matches were switched to different courts as tournament organisers scrambled to ensure all remaining third round matches were completed on Saturday, with Kokkinakis’s match against Fritz a case in point.
But the late decision to move a clash between Grigor Dimitrov and Zizou Bergs to the main court backfired when Alexander Zverev needed a deciding set super tiebreaker to edge Tallon Griekspoor in a scheduled match that lasted 4hr 14min.
Dimitrov then clinched the match shifted to the main court in 3hr 57min, meaning Djokovic took to the court more than two hours behind schedule for the night session encounter.
It ensured that play in Paris would extend well beyond midnight for the fourth time in a week. The weather, clearly, is a factor in the late finishes.
The Covid-19 pandemic can also take a share of the blame. Prior to its arrival, play on the outside courts in Paris concluded when darkness fell nearing 10pm.
But when Roland Garros decided to shift the tournament to October in 2020 in order to allow the event to be contested, lights were installed on all outside courts to enable play to proceed given dusk arrived earlier in autumn.
As a result, play continues until completed, with all three of Kokkinakis’ five set matches finishing beyond 11.30pm this week.
Source Agencies
