Demon the last Aussie survivor after Popyrin Rome exit

With the Italian Open only now beginning to get to its second-week business end in Rome, the Australian singles interest has already once again been left resting solely on the shoulders of Alex de Minaur.

'Demon' was left to fly the flag alone after the tame exit of Alexei Popyrin against former winner Daniil Medvedev on the SuperTennis Arena on Sunday which continues the Canadian Open winner's difficult 2025 campaign.

Medvedev marched to a comfortable 6-4 6-1 victory in an hour and 26 minutes, with Popyrin evidently frustrated by his own failings as he clocked up 28 unforced errors to take his season's record to 6-10, a disappointing follow-up to his breakthrough 2024 campaign.

With the French Open just a fortnight away, the Australian contingent's recent struggles on clay have been striking. The 11 who started in the main draw in Rome, men and women, have all departed before the second week, except for de Minaur.

He had battled past Luca Nardi and an irritating front-row spectator on Saturday night and will be a warm favourite to make the last-16 when he faces Bolivian lucky loser Hugo Dellien on Monday, with the South American happy to be gifted his second chance after being defeated in qualifying.

Elsewhere in the men's draw on Sunday, the big guns began to fire with title holder Alexander Zverev strolling into the last 16 with a 6-4 6-0 win over Lithuanian qualifier Vilius Gaubas.

Third seed Carlos Alcaraz then continued his impressive reurn from injury with a 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 victory over Serbian Laslo Djere on the main Campo Centrale arena.

Earlier, Stefanos Tsitsipas had ended up in a heated and lengthy discussion with his conqueror Arthur Fils after his 2-6 6-4 6-2 defeat, with the umpire having to come down off his chair and keep a close eye on the pair as supporters in the SuperTennis Arena jeered and whistled.

The animated head-to-head centred on a moment when Tsitsipas tagged Fils with a booming backhand during the second set, with the 20-year-old Frenchman apparently using it as his fuel for victory.

But there appeared no bad blood between the pair as they left the arena following the discussion.

British star Jack Draper recorded his 100th tour win but admitted his frustration had boiled over as he smashed a racquet en route to beating Czech qualifier Vit Kopria 6-4 6-3.