French veteran Gael Monfils and compatriot Corentin Moutet on Thursday joined countrymen Arthur Fils, Ugo Humbert and Benjamin Bonzi in the last-32 at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

Monfils, 38, entered the season's first Grand Slam championships boasting a trophy from the Auckland tournament – the 13th title of his career.

And after taking five sets to dismiss his big-serving comaptriot Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round, Monfils swept past the unseeded German Daniel Altmaier 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 to reach the last-32 for the 12th time in his 18 visits to the championships.

Moutet, playing in his sixth Australian Open, reached the third round for the first time with a four-set win over Mitchell Krueger from the United States.

Moutet, 25, who twice served for the third set before winning it in a tie-break, said: "I should have played with a bit more humility in the third set when I was leading 5-2.

"I should have finished it. He came back and I could have gotten my fingers burned. I should have had a better attitude at 5-2 up."

Moutet's progress furnished French men's tennis with its best showing at the Australian Open since 2017 when Monfils, Benoît Paire, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon reached the last-16.

By contrast, the last of the five French female players was dispatched on Thursday. Varvara Gracheva, ranked 69 in the world, lost to the German Eva Lys, a player 60 places beneath her in the women's lists.

Read more on RFI English

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