Australia’s Daria Saville thrashes Czech Petra Kvitova to match career-best French Open performance

There is only one Australian left in the French Open singles draws but Daria Saville doesn’t intend to stop in the third round.

Daria Saville is into the round of 32 at this year’s French Open - and on a fast track back to the top 100. Picture: Getty Images

Reborn tennis star Daria Saville has matched her career-best French Open performance and moved within one win of a long-awaited return to the top 100.

The tenacious baseliner breezed past No.32 seed and dual Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-4 6-2 in a 75-minute beatdown to be the last Australian standing out of the 11 singles entrants at the clay-court grand slam.

That impressive victory came on the same day Ajla Tomljanovic and qualifier Jason Kubler lost their second-round matches.

Saville provisionally climbs to No.103 in the live rankings and will move inside the top 100 for the first time since August 2019 if she can defeat 59th-ranked Italian Martina Trevisan.

Her ranking was on the wrong side of 600 only three months ago before a blistering run during the American hard-court swing.

Saville hit almost as many winners as Kvitova (18-26) but committed only seven unforced errors compared to the Czech champion’s 30 as she beat her for the fourth time in six clashes.

Daria Saville continues to surge back up the WTA rankings. Picture: Getty Images

The former top-20 star has re-emerged this season since returning from last-resort surgery after a five-year battle with an achilles issue she concedes she will never be fully rid of.

“I actually did know I was the last Aussie standing. I don’t know why,” Saville said, laughing.

“I mean, that’s why I (sometimes) lose matches, to be honest, because I think of this stuff. But I actually did this time – and that’s not a good thing.

“Sometimes, I’m in another world, but then as long as I catch myself, I think, ‘OK, come back, you’re here, play the ball’.

“The good thing was that I was able to concentrate again and didn’t think about it.”

Tomljanovic’s 6-4 6-7(5-7) 7-5 defeat to Russian Varvara Gracheva followed her massive upset of fifth seed Anett Kontaveit and came as a great disappointment as she chased another deep grand slam run.

Jason Kubler’s French Open ended in round 2. Picture: Getty Images

The 29-year-old Queenslander was two points from victory when Gracheva slipped to 30-all on serve in the 10th game of the final set but that was as close as she could get.

“This loss definitely overshadows the good win for me,” Tomljanovic said.

“We have a grand slam four times a year and this is where you want to do your best, especially after a win like the one I had on Monday.

“I came into the match even more confident in my mind than I did against Anett. Against her; I had a really bad warm up and felt I wasn’t there with my game.

“Today was the kind of opposite; I felt everything was smooth but I was flat and didn’t play as well as I wanted to – and she played a great match.”

Kubler played catch up from the start against British 10th seed Cameron Norrie, who scored a comfortable 6-3 6-4 6-3 triumph, but will be back inside the top 150 post-tournament.