Alex de Minaur is out of the French Open, with Australia’s best player collapsing to unseeded Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
De Minaur was looking for a passage through to the third round at Roland Garros for the first time in seven attempts, but was outclassed by the bigger hitter 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3.
The Australian started brightly and had numerous break points in the first set to steal the first advantage. But once they were saved by Etcheverry, the Argentine worked on top and never relented the lead.
De Minaur scrapped in his trademark way and saved four set points in the second set, but it was to no avail for the 18th seed.
Court coverage masterclass by demon 👿
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 1, 2023
Alex De Minaur is today's shot of the day by @oppo #InsipirationAhead #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/lINfUcXLU6
He’s now won five of his last 12 games in tournaments this year, including a 5-5 record on clay. The result sees Thanasi Kokkinakis as the only Australian male left in the main draw after Max Purcell also lost in three sets. There are no Aussies left in the women's draw.
Kokkinakis beat 20th seed Dan Evans before edging past Stan Wawrinka in five seats in the second round to next set up a clash with talented Russian Khachanov.