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Jordan Thompson's French Open run has been ended by a clinical Juan Martin del Potro performance in the third round.

Jordan Thompson admits he would've loved the help of Hawkeye after his groundbreaking French Open run was halted by a fired-up Juan Martin del Potro in the third round.

Thompson was vying to become the first Australian male into the last 16 at Roland Garros since Lleyton Hewitt in 2007.

But Del Potro - eighth seed and a semi-finalist in Paris last year - overcame a heated exchange with the chair umpire early in the third set to cruise through 6-4 6-4 6-0.

The loss leaves Ashleigh Barty as the sole Australian in the draw after her calm defeat of Andrea Petkovic late on Saturday.

Usually-placid, Argentinian del Potro was well in control when he stood and argued his point with chair umpire Manuel Absolu over a line-call in the third set's opening game.

The lengthy delay didn't help the Australian, who lost the next two points to concede the break and the next five games.

Both men vented their frustrations at Absolu at the change of ends, before chatting amongst themselves and shaking hands before resuming play.

While he wasn't insinuating it had cost him the contest he was clearly annoyed at the traditional process, which sees the umpire move from his chair to identify the mark on the clay rather than resort to video review technology.

"I think there should be Hawk-Eye ... it would make things a lot easier," he said.

"There are so many arguments whether ball is in or out.

"If we had Hawk-Eye it'd be over in 20 seconds and we'd be back playing."

There were early nerves in Thompson's grand slam third-round debut, broken in the first game as he made uncharacteristic errors from both wings.

The 25-year-old made just five unforced errors in his defeat of Ivo Karlovic on Thursday but had tallied that many inside four games against the hulking Argentinian.

Del Potro limped into the third round on the back of a torrid five-setter on Thursday where, with a sore hip and knee, he admitted to picking and choosing his moments to chase balls.

There were no such concerns on Saturday though as Thompson's grasp on the contest slipped, with the third-set argument the final straw as he finished with 32 unforced errors compared to del Potro's 16.

Thompson still picks up about $230,678 for his efforts - roughly a seventh of his career earnings - and is projected to rise to within one place of his career-high ranking of 60.

"I made the third round of a French Open - it's not my preferred surface - it's a positive, I should be positive," he said.

HOW THE AUSSIES FARED ON DAY SEVEN (PREFIX DENOTES SEEDING)

* Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) d Jordan Thompson 6-4 6-4 6-0

* 8-Ashleigh Barty d Andrea Petkovic (GER) 6-3 6-1