Eight Australians but only one female will fly the flag at the French Open

Only eight Australians will feature in the Frenchy Open main draw after a last-minute withdrawal left the women’s side nearly bare.

Alex de Minaur is Australia’s only seed at Roland Garos. Picture: Alex Pantling/Getty Images

At least one Australian will be guaranteed a place in the second round at the French Open after the draw was completed, but it didn’t include Ajla Tomljanovic, who withdrew from the tournament.

Tomljanovic’s last-minute decision, as she continues to recover from a knee injury, leaves Kim Birrell as the only female Australian in the field for the year’s second grand slam.

Alex de Minaur will headline the men’s campaign for Australia and take on Belarusian world No.86 Ilya Ivashka in the opening round.

He’s Australia’s only seed this year and has had little success on the clay at Roland Garros, with four first-round exits from his six previous campaigns.

But passage to the second round will be guaranteed for an Australian, with Max Purcell set to face fellow Sydneysider Jordan Thompson for his opener.

Chris O’Connell, who was knocked out of the Geneva Open quarter-final on Thursday, opens against Japan’s Taro Daniel, with the winner set for a likely second-round clash with world No.1 and men’s title favourite Carlos Alcaraz.

Alexei Popyrin will play a qualifier in the first round. Picture: Alex Pantling/Getty Images

Wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis starts against British 20th seed Dan Evans, with former champion Stan Wawrinka possibly waiting in round 2 for the winner.

Jason Kubler and former French Open junior champion Alexei Popyrin fared much better and will both play qualifiers in the first round.

Birrell, who will fly the flag solo after Tomljanovic’s official withdrawal hours before Thursday’s draw, will play French wildcard Leolia Jeanjean in the first round.

Despite the bare number of Aussie women, retired Aussie champion Sam Stosur said while it was “obviously not ideal”, she didn’t believe there was any issue with the development of local talent.

“You want more players in the draw, that goes without saying, and hopefully Ajla can make a comeback this week,” Stosur said.

“If not, then hopefully it’ll be very soon – she’s had a fantastic year last year and now to miss all the year so far is really devastating for her, but I know she’s going to work as hard as she can to get back out there.

“It’s all cyclical, it goes around in cycles – next year we could have 10 and this year will be all forgotten about. You’ve got to do the best you can with whoever’s in the draw, and I’m wishing those two all the best.”

AUSSIES AT THE FRENCH OPEN

Men’s singles

18-Alex de Minaur v Ilya Ivashka (BLR)

Max Purcell v Jordan Thompson

Jason Kubler v qualifier

Alexei Popyrin v qualifier

Chris O‘Connell v Taro Daniel (JPN)

Thanasi Kokkinakis v 20-Dan Evans (GBR)

Women’s singles

Kim Birrell v Leolia Jeanjean (FRA)