Daria Kasatkina has ensured Australia will have two survivors in the third round at the French Open after Queensland giant-killers Kimberly Birrell and Adam Walton both crashed back down to earth in sun-baked Paris.
The imported Aussie 'Dasha' continued her welcome revival but had to really sweat it out on another scorching day at Roland Garros before subduing her dogged second-round opponent, Swiss qualifier Susan Bandecchi, 7-5 7-6 (13-11) on Thursday.
In an epic second-set tiebreak lasting 17 minutes, Kasatkina eked out seven match points before finally killing off the stubborn challenge of the big-hitting world No.215 to ensure she'll be in the last-32 of the women's singles, while Alex de Minaur will play his third-round match on Friday against Jakub Mensik.
