Aussie trio out of French Open qualifying
Australians Kim Birrell, Arina Rodionova and Jason Kubler are beaten in French Open qualifying.
Paris, France, 23 May 2019 | Tennis Australia
Australian hopes came to an end in French Open qualifying on Wednesday with defeats for Kim Birrell, Arina Rodionova and Jason Kubler.
Birrell, ranked 158th, went down 6-2 3-6 6-4 to world No.193 Valentini Grammatikopoulou of Greece in the first round.
Compatriot Rodionova, ranked 231st, suffered a 7-5 6-1 loss to Switzerland’s Conny Perrin, the world No.142.
And there was also disappointment for world No.176 Jason Kubler in the men’s second round as he was beaten 6-1 7-6(9) by experienced Serb Viktor Troicki, ranked 259th as he makes his way back from injury.
The French Open first round gets under way in Paris on Sunday, and 13 Australians will be represented when the draw takes place on Friday.
Among them will be Sam Stosur, Astra Sharma and Ajla Tomljanovic, who all suffered defeats in WTA events on Wednesday.
Tomljanovic went down 6-3 6-4 to Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek in Nurnberg, while in Strasbourg, Stosur was beaten 6-0 6-2 by Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine and Sharma lost 6-3 6-2 to Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig.
There was good news for Daria Gavrilova, who defeated French wildcard Amandine Hesse 4-6 6-2 7-5 to set up a quarterfinal against France’s world No.229 Chloe Paquet.
Joining forces.@ashbar96 & @ElinaSvitolina paired up for practice this morning…#RG19 pic.twitter.com/ytWmcp8RVK
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 22, 2019