The N.1 tricolors Caroline Garcia (4th in the world) and Richard Gasquet (42nd) will play their first round on Tuesday.

.

It passes (3): Burel, Moutet and Lestienne

Clara Burel, 130th in the world and from qualifying, logically dominated the Australian Talia Gibson (344th and guest) 6-3, 6-4.

"It's a first round, against a wild card, so I know I have my chance, but suddenly, there is a little more tension. In addition, there were a lot of public against me. But I knew how to stay in my bubble and I remained solid", commented the Frenchwoman.

At 21 and for her fourth participation, the French reached the second round for the first time in Melbourne where she will face Barbora Krejcikova (23rd and winner of Roland-Garros 2021) on Wednesday.

"My level of play was lower (Monday) than in qualifying, so I hope to find this level" to face Krejcikova, noted Burel.

Twice so far, she has reached the third round in Grand Slams: in 2020 at Roland-Garros and at the US Open last year.

Corentin Moutet (62nd) overcame neck and wrist pain to deliver a spectacular 4:14 game to beat China's Wu Yibing (114th) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 .

"It was super hard... I had a lot of physical problems during the match," admitted the 23-year-old Frenchman who hurt his neck on a false move on serve and injured his wrist left on a backhand.

If the neck then did not pose a problem, the wrist is a source of concern: "There, it's still hot so it's pretty much fine, but I'm in a hurry to see tomorrow (Tuesday) how it will be", he commented.

He will face Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo (29th) on Wednesday.

For his first Major, Constant Lestienne (55th) rose to the second round by dismissing the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro (77th) 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3.

Frenchman Constant Lestienne against Brazilian Thiago Monteiro in the first round of the Australian Open in Melbourne, January 16, 2023 © Martin KEEP / AFP

He will face Briton Cameron Norrie (12th) on Wednesday, logical winner of another Habs, Luca Van Assche (143rd).

.

It breaks (6): Rinderknech, Barrère, Halys, Van Assche, Janicijevic, Jeanjean

Arthur Rinderknech (59th) did not last two hours against the Japanese Yosuke Watanuki (138th and from qualifying): the N.5 tricolor was swept away 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 in 1h43 and lamented not having been able to offer play.

"I didn't play a match, I didn't do much... it wasn't complicated to beat me today", he regretted, explaining that "upstream things" , which he does not want to "make public", had disrupted his preparation.

"It could be a reason, but there is no excuse. It was me who was on the pitch and I was not good today", he simply developed, claiming to be "100% mentally and physically".

Defeat also for Grégoire Barrère (83rd) against the Argentinian Tomas Etcheverry (79th) despite winning the first set, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Quentin Halys (61st) and Luca van Assche (143rd) couldn't do anything respectively against Stefanos Tsitsipas (4th) and Cameron Norrie (12th), except push them to the tie break once each.

Halys did it in the third set of the match lost 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) and Van Assche in the first before losing 7-6 (7/3), 6- 0.6-3.

Among the women, after resisting in the first set Séléna Janicijevic (185th and qualifying) lost 7-5, 6-1 to Slovenian Kaja Juvan (104th).

French Séléna Janicijevic during the match against Slovenian Kaja Juvan in the first round of the Australian Open, in Melbourne, January 16, 2023 © Paul CROCK / AFP

Much heavier defeat for Léolia Jeanjean (109th and drafted at the last minute) against Argentina Nadia Podoroska (191st) 6-0, 6-3.

© 2023 AFP