Paris, France, 27 May 2025 | Matt Trollope

Alex de Minaur has continued his impressive claycourt season, winning through to the second round at Roland Garros in straight sets on Tuesday.

The ninth seed defeated Serbia’s Laslo Djere 6-3 6-4 7-6(6) to set a meeting with Alexander Bublik, who beat fellow Australian James Duckworth 6-2 6-4 6-4.

While Olivia Gadecki lost to No.2 seed Coco Gauff in her Court Philippe Chatrier debut, Adam Walton scored a breakthrough five-set win over Maximilian Marterer to ensure five Aussies through to the second round.

MORE: Walton battles to breakthrough win at Roland Garros

From 5-2 down in the third set, De Minaur steadied and exploited the nerves of his opponent, who double-faulted twice amid a succession of errors – and failing to convert two set points – when serving for it at 5-3.

The pattern repeated when De Minaur faced two set points in the subsequent tiebreak. On the second of those, his relentless retrieving forced an error from the Serb, who on the next point wildly shanked a forehand to give De Minaur match point.

The Aussie converted it with a powerful serve out wide.

“First round match was never going to be easy,” De Minaur said.

“I managed to sneak through in three. I’m happy to get three. It wasn’t pretty, but ultimately got the win, and that’s all that matters.”

After struggling on clay earlier in his career, De Minaur has advanced to the second round at Roland Garros for three straight years.

Last year he went all the way to the quarters and this fortnight is on track for a fifth consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal.

The world No.9’s win over Djere improved his 2025 claycourt record to 10-4. He began the swing with a semifinal finish in Monte Carlo then a quarterfinal in Barcelona before back-to-back trips to the last 16 in Madrid and Rome.

“I’m feeling very comfortable on this surface. Everything from my movement to my shape to my understanding of how to construct points and what is going to be effective for me,” he said.

“There’s still plenty of areas that I need to get a little bit better. That’s probably weight of shot. It doesn’t come as natural to me to play with a lot of spin and heaviness. That’s something that on the clay is obviously very effective and very important.

“I have, over the years, gotten a lot better at that. Probably take the next step, it’s just getting a bit more comfortable with that and trying to break sidelines, I would say.”

Should he beat Bublik, it would be an 11th match win on clay in 2025, the most wins he has achieved on the surface in a single season.

Apart from that third-set blip De Minaur was largely in control against Djere; after two hours and 35 minutes he joined compatriots Alexei Popyrin, Ajla Tomljanovic and Daria Kasatkina in the second round.

He has never lost to Bublik, holding a 3-0 head-to-head record over the Kazakhstani.

AUSSIES IN ACTION