Australia's French Open challenge has been boosted by hugely encouraging wins in warm-up events for their top two men Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin, while comeback star Thanasi Kokkinakis has been confirmed as a definite starter in Paris.
The good news, though, after a difficult clay-court season for Aussie players was offset by the last three Australians in qualifying at Roland Garros all getting knocked out on Wednesday.
De Minaur, grittily, picked himself off the floor at the Hamburg Open, dusted off the clay caking his kit, got some medical attention and then battled to defeat tough Spaniard Alexander Davidovich Fokina 6-2 4-6 6-4 to move into the quarter-finals.
It was just the tonic the world No.9 needed after first-match exits in his previous two tournaments in Madrid and Rome, with the Paris grand slam kicking off on Sunday.
