- Both Australians advance to the third round in Paris
- Kokkinakis in another five-set comeback
Thanasi Kokkinakis pulled off a second stunning late-night five-set comeback win in three days at the French Open to ensure Alex de Minaur is not the only Australian standing in the French Open third round.
After De Minaur cruised to a consummate 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Jaume Munar on Thursday to reach the round of 32 at Roland Garros for the first time, it was Kokkinakis who once again stole the Australian show by come back two goals. He is set to beat the Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri 1-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) and 6-2.
After coming back from two sets to one down to beat Alexei Popyrin in a five-set Australian classic that ended at 11:37 p.m. on Tuesday, the Adelaide Marathon man this time wore down Zeppieri to claim his victory in front of a home crowd. bustling on Runway 10 again under lights at 11:35 p.m.
The victory over Jaume Munar sent De Miñaur (pictured during the match) to the first round of the clay court Grand Slam for the first time.
Kokkinakis broke loose after beating Giulio Zeppieri for his second straight five-set win after beating compatriot Alexei Popyrin.
The three-hour, 45-minute routine, interrupted by an hour-long rain break, was the third time Kokkinakis reached the third round at Roland Garros, and his fourth consecutive victory in a five-set match after heartbreak from its epic 4:05 am. loss to Andy Murray in Melbourne last year.
It was a stunning effort after Zeppieri served for the match in the fourth set at 5-3, only for the 28-year-old Australian to simply refuse to budge. He even outlasted the Italian physically, as Zeppieri began to cramp and weaken severely in the final set and had to call the coach with a problem in his left leg.
Earlier, De Minaur had shrugged off more rain in Paris trying to slow his assault on the title, beating his old Spanish clay friend Munar to reach the last 16 for the first time in eight attempts.
The Australian No 1 was primed and dominant on Thursday when he was halted by another of the countless rain interruptions that have inevitably led to the event being dubbed the ‘Drench Open’.
De Minaur’s girlfriend, Katie Boulter (pictured left), cheers him on during the victory.
The 25-year-old has only lost 13 games in his first two matches in Paris.
But he didn’t let the hour-long break get to him and quickly picked up where he left off, upstaging the hardened clay court player with a confident, attacking display that had Munar clearly irritable, living up to his ‘Jimbo’ nickname like a sort of Spanish answer to Jimmy Connors.
But while Munar argued with the referee and got the supervisor called to court to rule on a complaint, De Minaur simply put his head down, was not distracted and achieved his impressive victory in two hours and 11 minutes.
Vowing that he couldn’t take his French Open ambitions too seriously until he finally got past the second round, it’s no wonder De Minaur was left beaming.
This time, he has reached the round of 32 in exciting style, losing just 13 games in two matches following his first-round destruction of American teenager Alex Michelsen.
‘It feels great. Ultimately, it’s something I always thought I could achieve in my career,” De Minaur said of the uncharted territory of his.
‘I thought there was no reason why I couldn’t do it. So it’s nice to finally be able to be in the third round and move on, because ultimately my goal is not to get to the third round, but to go for bigger and better things.
“And I just stay alive and ready for the next round.”