Max Purcell has suffered an agonising five-set loss, even failing with an underarm serve when he had match point, as Australia’s French Open drought continued
Failed underarm serve on match point caps more Australian woe at French OpenAustralians are 0-6 after two days of tennis at Roland GarrosAustralia’s tale of Roland Garros woe has plumbed new depths with Max Purcell missing out on six match points before finally losing his first-round match in bewildering fashion following a stirring comeback.
Yet Purcell looked as if would finally break the men’s drought when rallying from two sets down against big-hitting Squire and twice served for the match on the verge of his first five-set win. Squire caught on to the underarm ruse quickly and won the point, leaving the 25-year-old Purcell’s head understandably scrambled as he then served a double fault and screwed a backhand wide, taking the contest into a super tiebreaker
That was something positive for Purcell to take from a match, interrupted by two rain breaks, in which qualifier Squire was “playing lights out” for two sets.Earlier, Saville fought valiantly against rising star Paolini, but her second-set fightback from 5-1 to the verge of 5-4 fell agonisingly short, after it was interrupted by an hour’s rain delay that halted her momentum.
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