Paris, France, 1 October 2020 | Leigh Rogers

Australia’s Marc Polmans put up a mighty fight in his first career meeting against a top 20-ranked player.

World No.19 Cristian Garin had to dig deep to overcome the No.122-ranked Polmans in Paris today, closing out a 6-7(5) 6-2 7-6(3) 6-4 second-round victory after three hours and 41 minutes on court.

Polmans came close to holding a two-sets-to-one advantage, building a 5-3 lead in the third set. However, Garin’s firepower proved too difficult to handle.

“Maybe I went a little passive in the third set and he stepped up his game, really went after it and that’s something I’ll take away,” Polmans said.

The 24-year-old from Chile, who won the Roland Garros boys’ singles title in 2013 and has claimed two ATP titles on clay this season, finished with 80 winners to Polmans’ 36 for the match.

It ends an outstanding tournament for Polmans, who made the most of a lucky loser place in the main draw to score a career-first top-50 win in the opening round. The 23-year-old from Melbourne is projected to rise to a new career-high ranking as a reward, edging closer to achieving his 2020 goal of breaking into the world’s top 100.

“When you get a bit lucky, you take your opportunities and I’m glad it paid off,” Polmans told AAP.

“Now I can build on this and push that ranking towards the top 100. My coaches have been telling me my game is there. Now it’s up to me to believe that – and I do.

“I’ve played my share of top-100 players and walked away with a couple of wins. It’s up to me to mentally believe it and today will help my confidence, it’s growing.”

John Peers was the sole Australian winner on day five, teaming with New Zealand’s Michael Venus to progress to the second round in men’s doubles.

ROLAND GARROS
Aussies in action, day five results:

Men’s singles, second round
[20] Cristian Garin (CHI) d [LL] Marc Polmans (AUS) 6-7(5) 6-2 7-6(3) 6-4

Men’s doubles, first round
[11] John Peers (AUS)/Michael Venus (NZL) d Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB)/Casper Ruud (NOR) 4-6 6-3 6-2

Women’s doubles, first round
[1] Su-wei Hsieh (TPE)/Barbora Strycova (CZE) d Astra Sharma (AUS)/Maria Sanchez (USA) 6-1 6-4
[14] Alexa Guarachi (CHI)/Desiree Krawcyzk (USA) d Ellen Perez (AUS)/Storm Sanders (AUS) 6-3 6-4