Ajla Tomljanovic gets ‘angry' to beat Maya Joint in all-Aussie rematch at French Open
As if stung by all the hoopla over the country's newest tennis star Maya Joint, the evergreen Ajla Tomljanovic got 'angry' and reminded Australia of her own enduring quality as she handed a lesson to her teenage pal at the French Open.
On a day when Alexei Popyrin ended his Roland Garros drought and Daria Kasatkina savoured her first grand slam win under the Australian flag, the sight of three of the green-and-gold brigade powering into the second round even before Alex de Minaur makes his bow on Tuesday quite atoned for the miserable opening-day wipe-out.
With nine in action on a manic Monday in Paris, there were inevitably casualties littered around the Aussies' perennial red tennis graveyard with Aleksandar Vukic, Chris O'Connell, Daria Saville, Kim Birrell and a battered Jordan Thompson all succumbing.
But Tomljanovic, who at 32 looked as sharp as she's ever done, bucked the trend in outplaying the new teenage Morocco Open champion Joint 6-1 6-3.
Joint, the 19-year-old Queenslander who had a whirlwind 72 hours while winning her first two WTA titles in singles and doubles in Morocco, beat Tomljanovic three days earlier in Rabat, when the former Australian No.1 pulled out when a set down to protect an abdominal concern.
But the three-time grand slam quarter-finalist emerged a completely different proposition on Monday, switching to all-out attack against the French Open debutant on the faster Paris clay.
Asked if she had a point to prove, Tomljanovic explained: 'My coach kind of gave me a really good pep talk - 'You've got to get angry, get determined' - and it really worked today.
'Maya had been playing so well, I had a few days to think about it and knew if I don't come out this way on the attack, it's going to be really tough. It's just nice to see everything pay off when I play the right way.'
The victory sets up Tomljanovic with a glamour tie against fourth seed Jasmine Paolini, the little Italian who's become a big favourite with the locals since reaching the final last year.
Kastakina, playing her first slam since switching allegiance from Russia in March, had to work hard to subdue the world's top doubles player, Czech Katerina Siniakova, 6-1 3-6 6-2.
'To play my first grand slam under the Australian flag, it's big honour. Yeah, just feel super happy and proud to also win the first match,' said the former semi-finalist.
Earlier, Popyrin ended his nightmare sequence at Roland Garros for his first opening-round win there in six years as he was in command against Yoshihito Nishioka until the doughty Japanese had to retire with an injured back while trailing 7-5 6-4 1-2.
After Sunday's first-day wipe-out with all three Australians exiting, Popyrin reckoned it was a 'nice feeling' to break the duck for the 16-strong green-and-gold contingent, the biggest at Roland Garros for 35 years.
'I feel like my game is starting to come back to me, the results are starting to show a bit more, there's more consistency and match wins every week. That's really important,' said the 25th seed, who tackles another left-hander, Chilean Alejandro Tabilo, next.
Thompson bemoaned another blip in a 'brutal season' during which he's suffered a ruptured plantar fascia in his foot, a torn oblique and a groin injury as he was hammered 6-4 6-2 6-1 by rising Czech Jiri Lehecka.
'The only positive from today is the body got through unscathed, but I guess that's because I copped a whipping,' lamented the 31-year-old.
Seeded opponents proved too much for O'Connell, beaten 7-5 6-3 7-6 (7-3) by the No.22 Ugo Humbert, Vukic, defeated 6-4 6-4 6-4 by No.24 Karen Khachanov, and qualifier Saville, who was outclassed 6-2 6-1 by Australian Open champ Madison Keys.
Gold Coast's Birrell also found the in-form Romanian Jaqueline Cristian, beaten by Joint in the Rabat final, in a different league in a 6-1 6-0 hammering.
Thompson also revealed Nick Kyrgios had been left 'down' by having to withdraw from his planned return with his mate in the men's doubles, ending the prospect of the former Wimbledon finalist's first competitive Roland Garros outing for eight years.
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The Dragons lost winger Christian Tuipulotu to a hamstring injury in the first half on his return from the same complaint while forward Raymond Faitala-Mariner left the field in the second half with shortness of breath. Woolf said prop Daniel Saifiti has a shoulder injury that has kept him out since round eight but he won't be back for next week's clash with North Queensland. "He's seeing a specialist and we'll figure out where we go from there. It just hasn't recovered like we hoped it would," he said.
