Australia’s tale of Roland Garros woe has plumbed new depths with Max Purcell missing out on six match points before finally losing his first-round match in bewildering fashion following a stirring comeback. But the shattered Purcell, who defended how he delivered an underarm serve on one of his failed match points against qualifier Henri Squire, was adamant after his five-set reverse that he had “no regrets”, even while reflecting on what a “s***” sport tennis can be. The Sydneysider’s agonising exit to the German grand slam newcomer on Monday left the green-and-gold contingent at 0-6 – five defeats and an injury withdrawal – after two days with the women’s challenge already over following Daria Saville’s earlier 6-3 6-4 loss to Jasmine Paolini on Monday.
It will be the first time since 1997 there’ll be no Australian woman in the second round of the Paris slam following Ajla Tomljanovic’s exit on Sunday. Yet Purcell looked as if would finally break the men’s drought when rallying from two sets down against big-hitting Squire and twice served for the match on the verge of his first five-set win. He’d be forgiven if what happened next haunted him for the rest of his tennis days.
He failed to convert four match points when serving at 5-4 but then, having broken Squire again to serve at 6-5, earned a fifth match point, only to take the fateful decision to serve underarm. “I do it a lot in practice, it’s worth going for it – absolutely,” Purcel.
