De Minaur victory push held up by rain in ‘Drench Open’

Ian Chadband | May 31, 2024

Alex de Minaur has endured the frustration of more Paris rain coming to interrupt his French Open assault just when he was setting sail handsomely towards breaking a hoodoo at Roland Garros.

The Australian No.1 was looking really good as he put the first set to bed 7-5 against his old junior Spanish foe Jaume Munar and then broke for a  2-1 lead in the second on Thursday evening.

Then a third rain interruption of the day at these soggy championships – now christened the Drench Open by all and sundry – meant his bid to get past the second round for the first time in eight attempts was put on hold.

Meanwhile, his compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis, looking far from his sharpest after his late-night marathon win over Alexei Popyrin on Tuesday, had a mountain to climb after being outgunned 6-1 in his opening set against Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri.

After not getting on court in the first place until after 6pm as the rain delayed other matches on the outside courts, the players were set to resume their contests after a delay of over an hour, offering the prospect of another late night session for Kokkinakis.