Alex de Minaur and Jakub Mensik latest French Open seeds to fall after five-set upsets
Alex de Minaur and Jakub Mensik became the latest men’s seeds to fall at the French Open after both players blew two-set leads to lose in the second round on Thursday.
Ninth seed De Minaur lost to the often erratic and mercurial Alexander Bublik, who fought from behind to win 2-6 2-6 6-4 6-3 6-2.
Aussie De Minaur had reached the quarter-finals at the last four grand slams, including last year’s French Open.
On his way to victory, Bublik threw in an unnecessary on set point in the fourth, before winning the point with a backhand winner.
Soon after, Portugal’s Henrique Rocha dropped the ‘cold’ celebration after also coming from two sets down to defeat 19th seed Mensik.
Mensik had won the Miami Open earlier this season and reached the quarter-finals in Madrid, but qualifier Rocha, the World No 200, won 2-6 1-6 6-4 6-3 6-3.
He celebrated by dropping his racket and rubbing his arms as if he was cold, an ode to Chelsea and England footballer Cole Palmer.
De Minaur and Mensik’s exits follow those of two-time French Open runner-up Casper Ruud and former Roland Garros finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas on Wednesday.
Ruud struggled with injury during his defeat to Portugal’s Nuno Borges while Tsitsipas was stunned by Italian qualifier Matteo Gigante.
