KASATKINA THE SOLE AUSSIE TO ADVANCE ON THURSDAY IN PARIS

Daria Kasatkina, FFT

Daria Kasatkina was the sole Australian to progress on Thursday at Roland Garros, defeating local wildcard Leolia Jeanjean 6-4, 6-2.

It puts the new Aussie into the last 32 in Paris for the seventh time, at what has been comfortably her most successful major.

Kasatkina played late into the Paris evening, after a long schedule on Suzanne Lenglen delayed her clash, seeing her ultimately arrive to press in the early hours of Friday morning.

“It’s been a very long day, honestly. I saw I was fourth on the schedule with Fils and Munar playing first, so I expected a wait, just not this long,” she said post-match.

“Today was my turn to wait, and I think I passed this test pretty well.”

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Kasatkina will face Spaniard Paula Badosa on Saturday, looking to build on her run at Roland Garros, where she has previously been a semi-finalist.

“Paula is an amazing player. She’s had some great results already this year. If not for injuries, I think she’d be even higher,” the Aussie said.

“It’s a tough draw, for sure. We’ve always had close matches. I remember last year at Wimbledon — third round, three sets — it was a big battle. I expect the same again.”

It was a different story for Alex de Minaur and Adam Walton who each suffered round two defeats.

De Minaur got away to a blistering start, leading Kazakh Alexander Bublik 6-2, 6-2 and appearing in complete control.

Until that point, Bublik was struggling to win points, repeatedly experimenting with the drop shot, which proved an issue against the speed of the ‘Demon’.

But from the beginning of the third, the match took a complete 180-degree turn, as the Kazakh shifted his game style, and the Aussie was visibly struggling to compete as the match dragged on.

Speaking in his press conference, de Minaur admitted to feeling ‘burnt out’ and suggested the loss was an uncharacteristic one for him.

Adam Walton also exited in the second round; a 6-7 1-6 6-7 defeat to Andrey Rublev.

Taking the Russian to two tiebreaks, despite a lingering arm issue, it’s another positive experience for the rising 26-year-old, who's been the third-best-performing Aussie man this year behind de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin.

Looking ahead to Friday's schedule in Paris, Popyrin will be the only Australian to feature in singles action, as he eyes off a maiden fourth-round berth at Roland Garros against Nuno Borges.

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