Bernard Tomic‘s latest grand slam comeback bid has sadly fallen short after the 33-year-old failed to qualify for the French Open. Tomic was among the last three Aussies to be knocked out in qualifying for Roland Garros, but there was better news for injury-plagued compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis, who confirmed he will play in the year’s second major, which gets underway in Paris on Sunday.
Kokkinakis will use a protected ranking to enter the French Open, as one of 13 Aussie tennis stars in the Paris main draw. Kokkinakis has been troubled by a ongoing shoulder complaint since pulling out of the Australian Open, but won a couple of qualifying matches in Zagreb last week on his return.
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However, Tomic was one of 11 Aussies who were unable to get through qualifying to join their compatriots at Roland Garros. The 33-year-old suffered a 6-2 6-4 defeat to second round defeat to Italian teenager Federico Cina, denying Tomic a chance to return to the majors for the first time since 2021.
Compatriot Tristan Schoolkate also lost to 18-year-old American Darwin Blanch 6-4 6-4. And in women’s qualifying, 31-year-old veteran Storm Hunter saw her hopes dashed by China’s Wang Xiyu, going down 6-2 7-5 in the second round.
Alex de Minaur survives scare in win before French Open
In better news for the Aussie contingent, the highest ranked men Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin both enjoyed morale-boosting wins. At the the Hamburg Open, De Minaur had to receive medical attention and fight off a late scare against Alexander Davidovich Fokina, to down the Spaniard 6-2 4-6 6-4 and move into the quarter-finals.
The World No.9 breezed through the opening stanza before Davidovich Fokina hit back in the second to send the match into a third set. But de Minaur took a nasty fall to the clay after being wrong-footed by the Spaniard at the start of the deciding stanza, and had to be patched up by the physio.
He responded brilliantly to race out to a 5-2 lead but endured a nervy finish after struggling to see out the contest. Davidovich Fokina fought back to trail 5-4 before saving two match points on the Aussie’s serve. But ‘Demon’ finally got the job done after a two hour and 40 minute battle.
The win sets up a last-eight showdown for the Aussie against Italian Open semi-finalist Luciano Darderi, who beat Yannick Hanfmann 7-6 (9-7) 7-5. And it was an encouraging victory on clay for de Minaur, following first-match defeats in his previous two tournaments in Madrid and Rome.
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Alexei Popyin powers into last-eight at Geneva Open
Fellow Aussie Popyrin also tuned up for the French Open in style by beating top seed Taylor Fritz in straight sets at the Geneva Open to book a quarter-final berth. The World No.61 took advantage of a rusty Fritz – who’s only just returned from injury after two months out – by toppling the World No.8, in a 6-4 6-4 win.
“I am very happy,” said Popyrin, who will play Norway’s two-time Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud in the quarters. “I am glad to be playing this level finally this year. It has been a tough year for me, so playing this level a week before a slam is always a great feeling.