Max Purcell: Aussie star calls tennis a ‘s**t sport’ after incredible brain explosion sees him lose at French Open despite having SIX match points

Australia’s saga of Roland Garros misery has reached new depths, with Max Purcell missing out on six match points before ultimately losing his first round match in stunning fashion after a thrilling comeback.

But a shattered Purcell, defending 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 as he reflected on what a ‘s* * Tennis can be.

The Sydneysider’s painful 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 in which the women’s challenge was already over after the previous 6-3 from Daria Saville. 4 loss to Jasmine Paolini on Monday.

“That’s tennis, it’s a sport, you don’t always win when you win,” Purcell said after dropping his French Open match in the first round

It will be the first time since 1997 that there will be no Australian woman in the second round of the Paris Slam, following the departure of Ajla Tomljanovic on Sunday.

Still, Purcell looked like he might finally break the men’s drought as he fell two sets behind the big Squire and served twice for the match on the brink of his first five-set win.

He would 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 after breaking Squire again to serve at 6-5 he earned a fifth match point, only to make the fateful decision to forearm to serve.

“I do it a lot in practice, it’s worth going for it, absolutely,” Purcell said.

‘No regrets, in retrospect it’s not that big of a deal, is it? No, just take the positives, learn from them. I hate living in the past.’

A tired backhand into the net from Purcell saw him go down in a grueling encounter that lasted three hours and 21 minutes.

Squire quickly picked up the forearm trick and won the point, understandably confusing the 25-year-old Purcell’s head as he then served a double fault and twisted a backhand wide, sending the match into a super tiebreak.

In a nail-biter, Purcell again fought back from 9-7 down to save two match points and earned a sixth himself which the German saved, but ultimately a tired backhand into the net allowed Squire to gain the upper hand after three hours and 21 minutes. .

When asked how he would get over it, Purcell just shrugged: “I’m going to practice tomorrow and double up the next day. The game continues, it’s fine.

‘I’m proud of the way I fought. I should have walked away with the loot, but that’s tennis, it’s a sport, when you win, you don’t always win.’

That was something positive for Purcell from a match, interrupted by two rain breaks, in which qualifier Squire played two sets ‘lightly out’.

“I wish he would just open his eyes,” Purcell smiled sadly.

German Henri Squires (pictured) is ranked 221st in the world after his first appearance at a Grand Slam

Earlier, Saville fought valiantly against rising star Paolini, but her second set fightback from 5-1 to 5-4 came painfully short after it was interrupted by an hour’s rain delay that halted her momentum.

But the 30-year-old Australian No. 1 did not complain and only complained that she served so poorly, maintaining her throw only once in eight attempts while also giving up nine double faults.

“I felt like the whole match was actually a lot closer than the score might have suggested,” Saville said, “but I struggled on serve and that cost me, especially in the first set.”

‘But at 5-4 in the second leg I made four unforced forehand errors, trying to dictate but missing. But that’s fine with me because I think I took a risk and it just didn’t work out.”