Australia's hopes of having a female in the second round at Roland Garros now rest on Daria Saville after a courageous Ajla Tomljanovic lost her opening match in three sets.
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The French Open draw did Tomljanovic no favours, setting her up for a first-round clash in Paris with 30th-seeded Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska on Sunday.
Despite the odds being stacked against her, Tomljanovic got off to the perfect start, claiming the first set 6-3 and looking confident on her serve and groundstrokes.
The Aussie started the second set impressively and even had several early break-point opportunities. However, she failed to convert and Yastremska made her pay, breaking serve early, then holding on to claim the second stanza.
The Ukrainian got off to a flying start in the decider, breaking the Australian's first service game before going on to clinch the match 3-6 6-3 6-3.
There is certainly no shame in Tomljanovic's loss because of her recent wretched injury run, as well as playing an opponent who has shown she can take it to the best players in the world.
In January, Yastremska became the first qualifier since 1978 to make it all the way to the semi-finals at the Australian Open. Along the way she defeated two former grand slam champs: two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka and Wimbledon champ Marketa Vondrousova.
The French Open was always going to be a big ask for Tomljanovic, who only returned to competitive action in Parma last week after a four-month break following a knee injury and surgery to remove non-cancerous uterine tumours.
Tomljanovic's loss means Saville is the only Australian woman left in the main draw.
Saville will be hoping to ensure the Australian women's game doesn't suffer its first French Open wipeout this century.
Back as Australia's No.1 more than six years since her last reign, Saville told AAP she feels like a refreshed 26-year-old, not a 30-year-old wearied by injury setbacks that would have derailed a lesser individual.
Once 22-year-old Olivia Gadecki became the last Australian to succumb in qualifying at Roland Garros on Friday, Saville and Tomljanovic were charged with saving the day in the Paris main draw.
Not since 1997 has Australia failed to pilot at least one woman player into the second round at the French.
After Tomljanovic's loss it will be a tall order, with Saville drawn against Italian high-flyer Jasmine Paolini, the 12th seed. They will do battle on Monday.
But no matter what happens in the singles, Saville and Tomljanovic will be looking to fly the Aussie flag when they team up for a crack at the doubles.
There was more disappointment for Australia when Aleksander Vukic also lost his first-round singles match on Sunday.
The Aussie, ranked 89th in the world, put up a good fight against Chinese player Zhizhen Zhang.
Ranked No.44 in the world, Zhang rode out a bump in the second set to win 6-4 4-6 6-3 7-5.
Jordan Thompson was the only other Australian due to play on the opening day.
Australian Associated Press
