Alex de Minaur has reached the third round of the French Open for the first time in his career and countryman Thanasi Kokkinakis mounted a spectacular comeback to progress on another sodden day at Roland Garros.
More Paris rain interrupted the French Open assaults of both Australians, and it appeared to be a godsend for Kokkinakis.
Australian number one de Minaur was looking good as he put the first set to bed 7-5 against Jaume Munar and then broke for a 2-1 lead in the second before the third rain interruption of day five paused his eighth attempt to get out of the second round at the claycourt major.
But the 11th-seeded Aussie eventually got back on court six and wrapped up a resounding 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 in two hours and 11 minutes to progress to the round of 32 for the first time.
“It feels great. Ultimately, it’s something that I’ve always thought that I was gonna be able to achieve in my career,” de Minaur said of his uncharted territory.
“I thought there’s no reason why I can’t do it, so it’s just good to finally be able to be in the third round and keep on going, because ultimately, my goal is not to make the third round, it’s to go for bigger and better things.
“And I’m just keeping myself alive and ready for the next round.”
He will meet 41st-ranked Jan-Lennard Struff after the German veteran took down 19th seed Alexander Bublik 5-2, 6-2, 6-3 in just 77 minutes.
De Minaur leads their head-to-head 3-2 and beat him in straight sets in their last clash at the Miami Open in March, but Struff won their only encounter on clay, at last year’s Monte Carlo Masters.
Meanwhile, compatriot Kokkinakis, looking far from his sharpest after his late-night marathon win over Alexei Popyrin on Tuesday, dropped the first two sets against Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri.
After not getting on court in the first place until after 6pm as the rain delayed other matches on the outside courts, the players endured a delay of over an hour and it appeared to recharge the 28-year-old Adelaide native.
Coming off a four-hour-and-24-minute win over fellow Aussie Alexei Popyrin in round one, Kokkinakis locked in another long night as he came back to win the third set 6-3 and won a tiebreak 7-5 to send the match to a deciding set as they went beyond three hours on court.
All told Kokkinakis and Zeppieri spent three hours and 45 minutes on court as the 100th-ranked Australian set up a third round against 12th seed Taylor Fritz with a 1-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(7/5), 6-2 win just before midnight local time.
Organisers are trying to make up for lost time after rain limited day four to just nine completed singles matches on the two courts with roofs.
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ABC/AAP
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