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'Not happy': Alex de Minaur in 'demoralising' French Open drama

Alex de Minaur, pictured here after crashing out of the French Open on the opening day.
Alex de Minaur crashed out of the French Open in straight sets. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Alex de Dimaur was left completely shattered on Sunday as he crashed out of the French Open in brutal fashion.

The top Aussie male in the draw said he plans on taking a “long hard look in the mirror” following a soul-destroying first-round loss in Paris.

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De Minaur was gutted after blowing two set points in the opening tie-breaker, then dropping another tight second set in a 7-6 (11-9) 6-4 6-0 defeat to Italian qualifier Marco Cecchinato.

Cecchinato upended World No.1 Novak Djokovic en route to the semi-finals two years ago but that was of little consolation to the 21-year-old.

Barely a fortnight after charging to the quarter-finals on his favoured fast hard courts, de Minaur confessed to be in a “slump” having also lost in a third-set tiebreaker at last week’s Italian Open to World No.97 Dominik Koepfer.

“I'm not happy with where I am, not happy with what I'm showing on court, so it's a little bit demoralising in itself that I can't come out and play the tennis that I want to and that I know I can,” de Minaur said.

“So, look, it's something that I've got to have a long hard look at myself in the mirror and figure out what's happening, and basically just fix it and get back to where I want to be.”

A young man in a hurry, the 21-year-old said his demons were all upstairs.

“I've had two matches that I missed out on countless opportunities,” said the shattered World No.28.

“And I believe that it was exactly winning those matches is what I needed to gain some confidence and some momentum and be able to continue kind of that good tennis I had been showing.

“It's a pity because a sport like tennis is very based on results, everything. Mentally, it's a lot based on results.

“So you can do all the right things and be training well, be feeling physically fit, feeling mentally well, but if you go into a match and you're not getting those results, then it almost feels like nothing of that counts.”

Daria Gavrilova scores huge boilover

Meanwhile, an injury-plagued Daria Gavrilova declared “the old Dasha is back” after making a triumphant return to grand slam tennis with a stunning first-round triumph.

Playing on a protected ranking after slumping to No.785 in the world, Gavrilova sent 24th seed Dayana Yastremska packing with a 6-4 6-3 boilover on a chilly and wet first day at Roland Garros.

Gavrilova only made her comeback two weeks ago from more than a year out battling a debilitating foot injury and entered the clay-court slam with modest hopes.

But the one-time World No.20 needed only one hour and 21 minutes to see off Yastremska and book a date with former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard.

“It's pretty cool. It's pretty satisfying,” Gavrilova told AAP.

“I was pretty confident, to be honest. I played a very confident match.

Daria Gavrilova, pictured here in action against Dayana Yastremska at the French Open.
Daria Gavrilova celebrates her victory over Dayana Yastremska at the French Open. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

“I kind of knew what to expect from her and I did everything right and I was very positive - the old Dasha was back.

“I felt like it all started again. I was very hungry and I was really enjoying every moment. Yeah, it was fun.”

Gavrilova was under the tutelage of David Taylor, the long-time former coach of 2010 French Open runner-up and 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur, before aborting her 2019 season last September.

In a quirk of fate, Taylor's latest charge was Australia's only other winner on day one.

And Astra Sharma's breakthrough was equally as unexpected as Gavrilova's.

Sharma only gained entry to main draw as a "lucky loser" from the final round of qualifying.

But the 25-year-old is now at least $140,000 richer after securing the biggest pay day of her career with a 6-3 2-6 7-5 victory over Russian Anna Blinkova.

“Super thrilled,” Sharma told AAP.

“It was really tough conditions, really rainy. The balls were really soaked, the court was pretty wet so you'd hit a regular shot, the ball wouldn't go anywhere.”

While Gavrilova and Sharma march on, their more-fancied compatriots De Minaur, Jordan Thompson and Ajla Tomljanovic all bombed out.

How the Aussies fared on day one

Alex de Minaur lost to Marco Cecchinato (ITA) 7-6 (11-9) 6-4 6-0

Jordan Thompson lost to Radu Albot (MDA) 6-2 6-4 6-1

Ajla Tomljanovic lost to 20-Maria Sakkari (GRE) 6-0 7-5

Daria Gavrilova bt 24-Dayana Yastremska (UKR) 6-4 6-3

Maddison Inglis lost to 27-Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) 6-3 6-3

Astra Sharma bt Anna Blinkova (RUS) 6-3 2-6 7-5

with AAP

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