By Melinda Samson, Special for Tennis Grandstand
With three men and five women hailing from Australia in the main draw of the 2012 French Open, here’s a full recap of their form from Roland Garros in 2011 and the Australian Open in January.
Sam Stosur
Having made it to the French Open final in 2010, Sam will be aiming to better last year’s third round loss. Coming in to the Australian Open in January off her US Open victory, Sam made an early exit in the first round.
Stosur plays Baltacha in the first round and potentially faces in Petrova in the third round.
Read more about Sam’s highs and lows since the USO.
Lleyton Hewitt
Having recovered from his February foot surgery former world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt received a wildcard entry into the French Open, which he missed in 2011 due to injury.
Hewitt made it through to round 4 of the Australian Open, eventually losing to Djokovic, who he potentially faces in Round 2 at Roland Garros.
Hewitt plays Kavcic in round 1.
Bernard Tomic
Tomic has played at Roland Garros twice, losing in the first round both times.
He showed great form at the Australian Open, beating Verdasco in an epic first round five set match and following up the win by beating Sam Querry and Alexandr Dolgopolov before losing to Roger Federer in the fourth round.
Tomic plays Haider-Maurer in round 1.
Jarmila Gajdosova
This will be Gajdosova’s seventh appearance at Roland Garros. Her best result was making it through to the fourth round in 2010. Gajdosova lost in the first round of this year’s Australian Open.
Gajdosova plays Rybarikova in round 1.
Casey Dellacqua
Dellacqua is well loved since her run to the fourth round of the 2008 Australian Open, beating Patty Schnyder and Amelie Mauresmo along the way. This January she lost in the second round to eventual champion Victoria Azarenka.
2012 will be Dellacqua’s fourth appearance at Roland Garros, where she lost in the first round last year.
Dellacqua plays Errani in round 1.
Anastasia Rodionova
2012 is the sixth time that Rodionova will play at Roland Garros, having made it to the third round in 2010 and 2011. She lost in the first round of this year’s Australian Open.
Rodionova plays Johannson in round 1.
Ashleigh Barty
Wimbledon junior champion Barty received a wildcard entry into the Roland Garros main draw, to follow up her first grand slam appearance at the Australian Open in January, when she lost in the first round.
Barty faces a tough first round match against Kvitova.
Matt Edben
This is the first time Edben has played at Roland Garros.
During the Australian Open he won two sets off Kei Nishikori before eventually losing the second round match in five sets.
Ebden plays Kohlschreiber in round 1.
Several Australians played in the qualifying rounds, including Marinko Matosevic and Greg Jones but none were successful in making it through to the main draw.
Follow Tennis Grandstand for updates on all the Australian players’ progress throughout the main draw of the French Open.
Melinda Samson is attending Roland Garros and will be writing updates on Australian players through their trek of the tennis world’s second slam. She also manages the website Grand Slam Gal and is attempting to do the fan version of a tennis grand slam in 2012. Follow her on Twitter for further live updates @GrandSlamGal.
