Ajla Tomljanovic among Australian winners at Roland Garros as extent of Nick Kyrgios’ injury confirmed

Ajla Tomljanovic put her foot down in a win over teenage compatriot Maya Joint on the second day at Roland Garros, while new Aussie Daria Kasatkina won her first grand slam match under the Australian flag.

But five losses thinned the Aussie French Open contingent considerably, all before Alex de Minaur had hit a ball.

One of the beaten Aussies, Jordan Thomson, also flagged concern over the injury of his would-be doubles partner Nick Kyrgios, who was forced to withdraw with a knee injury.

It came as Tomljanovic, 32, a three-time grand slam quarterfinalist, showed herself to be returning to her best in an attacking win over her 19-year-old opponent, who was fresh off a maiden WTA title at the Morocco Open.

After a “really good pep talk” from her coach, Tomljanovic outplayed Joint in a 6-1 6-3 win.

“Maya had been playing so well, I had a few days to think about it and knew if I don’t come out this way on the attack, it’s going to be really tough,” Tomljanovic said.

“It’s just nice to see everything pay off when I play the right way.”

Playing her first match for Australia since switching allegiances from Russia in March, Kasatkina took down the world’s top doubles player, Czech Katerina Siniakova, 6-1 3-6 6-2.

“To play my first grand slam under the Australian flag, it’s big honour. Yeah, just feel super happy and proud to also win the first match,” Kasatkina said.

But Alexei Popyrin was the only other Australian winner among nine in action on Monday when Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka had to retire with injury at two sets down. Popyrin meets two-time finalist Casper Ruud for a place in the third round.

Aleksandar Vukic, Chris O’Connell, Daria Saville, Kim Birrell and Thompson all succumbing.

Thompson revealed he’d endured a slew of injuries, including a ruptured plantar fascia in his foot, a torn oblique and a groin injury before being hammered 6-4 6-2 6-1 by rising Czech star Jiri Lehecka.

He also said Kyrgios was disappointed by having to withdraw from the men’s doubles, with a return now unknown.

“Nick was really pumped to play here. He kept messaging me every week, ‘you good to go for doubles at Roland Garros’,” he said.

“I know he was back home in Australia training on clay, but a few days ago, Nick told me that he’s done something to his knee, so unfortunately, he just couldn’t be here.

“He was pretty down. He told me he doesn’t know how much more of these injuries he can take, and you’ve just got to feel for him.”