Alex De Minaur’s ill-fated Olympics over after doubles exit alongside Alexei Popyrin

Alex de Minaur’s Olympic dream is over at Roland Garros after Australia’s No.1 tennis player got knocked out of the men’s doubles in the first round along with his old Sydney pal Alexei Popyrin.

De Minaur had been determined to push ahead with his long-held ambition of playing at the Games after recovering quicker than expected from the hip cartilage injury he suffered at Wimbledon in the final moments of his last-16 win over Arthur Fils.

Deciding he wasn’t in the right shape to play a tough singles against German power hitter Jan-Lennard Struff on Sunday, de Minaur then withdrew to focus his efforts on the doubles alongside Popyrin on a baking afternoon at Roland Garros 24 hours later.

But the pair were soundly beaten by impressive American fourth seeds Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram 6-2 6-3 in just 65 minutes to provide a miserable end to de Minaur’s Games which he’d hoped would be a big success after reaching the quarter-final of the French Open at the same venue two months ago.

De Minaur doesn’t seem to have much luck when it comes to Olympics, having missed the 2021 event after contracting COVID-19.

Popyrin, the last Australian singles player still in the draw, will meet Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka, the three-time grand slam winner, in the second round on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Matt Ebden, who began his Olympics with a drubbing by Novak Djokovic in the singles, continues to thrive in his specialist doubles events.

The 36-year-old Ebden and Ellen Perez, the No.2 seeds, defeated Spanish pair Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marcel Granollers 6-3 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the mixed event.

On Tuesday, Ebden will team up with John Peers against Granollers and Pablo Carreno-Busta, seeking to reach the last-eight in the men’s event too.