Australia’s top-ranked man, Alex de Minaur, exits in the second round at Roland Garros 2023.
Paris, France, 1 June 2023 | Leigh Rogers
An in-form Argentine has dashed Alex de Minaur’s dreams at Roland Garros.
World No.49 Tomas Martin Etcheverry defeated Australia’s top-ranked man in Paris today, recording a 6-3 7-6(2) 6-3 victory in their second-round clash.
It is Etcheverry’s first top-20 win and propels the 23-year-old into the third round at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
This continues a breakout season for Etcheverry, who made his top-50 debut last month. He has reached two ATP clay-court finals so far in 2023 and now won 14 of his past 20 matches.
For De Minaur, on the other hand, it continues a challenging stretch.
The 24-year-old Australian has not recorded back-to-back wins since claiming the biggest title of his career at an ATP 500 tournament in Acapulco in early March.
The world No.19 tried gallantly to buck that trend against Etcheverry, but was simply outclassed by an opponent brimming with confidence.
Etcheverry’s constant pressure led to De Minaur committing an uncharacteristic 94 errors (53 which were unforced) in the two-hour and 45-minute encounter.
De Minaur had been aiming to advance to a Grand Slam third round for the 11th time in his career and for the first time at Roland Garros.
His loss leaves Max Purcell, who plays his second-round match today, and Thanasi Kokkinakis, who scored an epic five-set second-round win against former champion Stan Wawrinka yesterday, as the last Australian hopes in the men’s singles competition.
If Purcell can advance to the third round, it would be only the second time in the past 21 years that two Australian men have reached this stage at Roland Garros.
Kokkinakis also featured, alongside Nick Kyrgios, when this last happened in 2015.
Aussies in action – Roland Garros
RESULTS
Men’s singles, second round
Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG) d [18] Alex de Minaur (AUS) 6-3 7-6(2) 6-3
COMING UP
Men’s singles, second round
Max Purcell (AUS) v [27] Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN)
Men’s singles, third round
[WC] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) v [11] Karen Khachanov
> VIEW: Roland Garros 2023 men’s singles draw
Men’s doubles, second round
Alexei Popyrin (AUS)/Ilya Ivashka v [5] Lloyd Glasspool (GBR)/Harri Heliovaara (FIN)
John Peers (AUS)/Marcelo Melo (BRA) v TBC
Max Purcell (AUS)/Ben Shelton (USA) v Francisco Cabral (POR)/Rafael Matos (BRA)
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