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All four Australians have been knocked out of the French Open on a miserable Monday, which saw near-misses, injury and a 'Storm' blowing itself out.
Australia's challenge at the French Open suffered a quadruple calamity on a miserable Monday in Paris which witnessed a 'Storm' blow itself out, a brilliant comeback fall short and an injured warrior unable to do battle.
Storm Sanders kept her promise to give it a "red hot go" against overwhelming favourite Elise Mertens at Roland Garros but the Queenslander was eventually overwhelmed after her early gale of winners had shocked the 14th seed.
Sydney wildcard Chris O'Connell was then left "devastated" after a magnificent fightback from two sets down dragged American Tommy Paul into a final-set dogfight, only to fall agonisingly short, losing the 63-minute decider 10-8.
Jordan Thompson was the next to fall, slogging away for four hours and 23 minutes before losing to Spanish toiler Jaume Munar 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.
If the hat-trick of on-court losses weren't bad enough, play for the day hadn't even begun when the dispiriting news of John Millman's injury emerged.
The first Australian man scheduled for action was forced to withdraw with a back injury minutes before being due to take to the court for his opening round match.
The 31-year-old was left "incredibly disappointed" to have had to pull out of his match against Italian Gianluca Mager, with the injury that he picked up when in a practice hit with compatriot Alex de Minaur two days earlier.
Sanders, the Rockhampton left-hander, who'd battled through qualifying to make it into her first overseas grand slam main draw, was proud of her efforts after her adventure was finally ended.
She blasted winners as she raced to a 4-1 lead before the Belgian came to terms with her aggressive challenge, started mixing up her returns and ultimately dismantled the Queenslander 6-4 6-1.
"I gave everything out there. I don't give up," said Sanders, who lost eight games on the trot after her blistering start but never stopped trying - saving three match points before succumbing in 83 minutes.
"I've got heaps of messages from home. Everyone is super proud of me.
"I hope everyone can keep following my journey. I want to keep going. This isn't the end; this is the start."
O'Connell, who received a wildcard as part of the French federation's reciprocal agreement with Tennis Australia, showed remarkable resilience to fight back before eventually going down to world No.52 Paul 6-2 6-4 4-6 4-6 10-8.
Paul, ranked 77 places higher than the Sydneysider, was in control at two sets up but O'Connell made his chances count in the next two to take it into a decider - his first-ever five-set match.
There had been nine breaks of serve leading into the fifth set, but none in 16 games in the final stanza until a wide backhand from O'Connell at 8-8 and down a break point left him slumping to his haunches in dismay.
Still, Paul found it hard to put the match to bed, O'Connell saving two match points and even earning a break-back point of his own until a weary backhand into the net finally ended his fight.
"It's pretty devastating, I'm pretty upset about it," said the 26-year-old.
"I gave myself every opportunity to win it but it just wasn't for me today."
Millman's fighting spirit is famed and he left it to the very last minute before deciding to pull out in the morning once medics advised him he could make the injury much worse if he played.
"It's incredibly disappointing. I'm getting older now and I know I don't have a whole lot of these ones left," the Brisbane stalwart, looking the picture of dejection, said.
AUSSIES IN ACTION ON DAY THREE OF THE FRENCH OPEN ON TUESDAY (PREFIX DENOTES SEEDING):
Men's singles, first round
21-Alex de Minaur v Stefano Travaglia (ITA)
James Duckworth v Salvatore Caruso (ITA)
Alexei Popyrin v 3-Rafael Nadal (ESP)
Women's singles, first round
Astra Sharma v Irina Bara (ROM)
1-Ash Barty v Bernarda Pera (USA)
