Melbourne (AFP)

Alizé Cornet, the last French woman in the running, was eliminated Thursday in the second round of the Australian Open at the start of a day once again disturbed by the rain.

This 4th day in Melbourne must end in the Rod Laver Arena with the 2nd round of Rafael Nadal (N.1 world), against the Argentinian Federico Delbonis (76th).

After the elimination of Cornet by the Croatian Donna Vekic (20th) 6-4, 6-2 in 1h31, the assessment is heavy: none of the five tricolor players entered in the main draw of this first Grand Slam tournament of the year only reached the 3rd round.

The last of the 18 French representatives, but who have not yet played their second round, are therefore Gilles Simon, who faces Nick Kyrgios on Thursday evening, Pierre-Hugues Herbert who will be opposed to David Goffin and Gaël Monfils who will play against Ivo Karlovic.

Cornet failed at the same stage as last year in a tournament where his best result, a round of 16, dates back to 2009.

After the fumes, rain and wind, it was the sand that thwarted the program on Thursday, forcing the organizers to postpone the start of the games on the outdoor courts soiled with ocher powder.

The strong winds that swept through Melbourne on Wednesday carried sand which was deposited by the heavy rains overnight.

- Protected -

So that Thursday, while the meetings started well at 11:00 (01:00 French) on the main courts protected by roofs, they were much delayed on the annex courts.

At first, two games started an hour and a half late, before being interrupted by another downpour.

The games were launched at 2:30 p.m. (04:30 French time).

In total, 19 games of the 2nd round for men's and women's singles are scheduled for Thursday on the outdoor courts, including those of Monfils Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Simon will have the honors of the Melbourne Arena, covered, but the formidable privilege of facing the terrible child of Australian tennis Kyrgios.

The rain had completely disorganized the first day on Monday, causing the postponement of dozens of games to Tuesday for a second particularly busy day (88 games were played).

However, while the weather still disrupted the tables of singles and ladies on Thursday, the Australian world N.1 Ashleigh Barty had the privilege of playing her double match associated with the German Julia Goerges under the roof of the Melbourne Arena. No other double has been programmed on a protected court.

- "Experience" -

Taking advantage of the roofs, Karolina Pliskova (2nd) and Daniil Medvedev (4th) qualified in the early afternoon.

The Russian, a valiant finalist at the US Open in September, dismissed the Spanish qualifier Pedro Martinez (168th) 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 but insisted on emphasizing the difficulty of this match, "in particular at first set ".

"But he has less experience than me so even when he played fire in the first set, I knew that I had to hang on and be present throughout the match," said Medvedev (21).

Pliskova, she continued without problem her course in Melbourne, even if she estimated not to have delivered "a beautiful match" against the German Laura Siegemund (72nd), eliminated 6-3, 6-3.

"Her game doesn't suit me. I hope to play better in the next round," said the 27-year-old Czech who won her 16th WTA title on January 12 in Brisbane and reached the semifinals in Melbourne last year. latest.

End of course, on the other hand, for the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, winner at Roland-Garros in 2017 and ex-world No. 5 dropped to 45th, who played the Australian Open to "take care" after the death of his father at the beginning of the month. She was eliminated by the Swiss Belinda Bencic (7th) 7-5, 7-5.

© 2020 AFP