Victorious against Andrea Petkovic in two rounds, Alizé Cornet validated her ticket for the main draw of the WTA tournament in Rome. Kristina Mladenovic, for her part, fell to Vera Zvonareva.
Caroline Garcia will not be the only French in the table for the WTA tournament in Rome. While the Lyonnaise benefited from an invitation from the organizers, Alizé Cornet passed the pitfall of qualifying this Sunday. After pushing the Italian Giulia Gatto-Monticone out of her way in the first round, the Niçoise did not tremble against Andrea Petkovic. The German was in great difficulty on serve during the first set, conceding the break on her four face-offs. Alizé Cornet, more applied to the service, was able to take the advantage in this set by winning two of his four service games.
Andrea Petkovic’s reaction was immediate at the start of the second set with the break from the first game but the 109th world failed to retain this advantage, a series of three service games lost for each of the two players allowing Alizé Cornet to return to three games everywhere. Therefore, neither the French nor the German left the slightest flaw with the round which was played in the decisive game. Winning the first three points, Andrea Petkovic thought he had made the difference but Alizé Cornet responded to seal the fate of the match at his second opportunity (6-2, 7-6 in 1h44 ‘). After dominating Leonie Kung this Saturday in the first round of qualifying, Kristina Mladenovic had to confirm against Vera Zvonareva. But the 55th world did not succeed.
From the first game, the Russian took the service of her opponent before dismissing two break points in the sixth game. Scalded, the 114th world then put a new boost to double its advantage over the French. The latter had a bullet to erase one of her two late breaks but Vera Zvonareva had the last word in this first round, with her fourth set point. Not wanting to let it go, Kristina Mladenovic raised the tone with the entry break to lead three games to nothing but it was the Russian who had the hand in the exchanges. After letting four break balls escape in an endless fifth game, it was on a shutout that she managed to fall behind. On her momentum, Vera Zvonareva signed three shutouts including a break to conclude the meeting with her first match point (6-2, 7-5 in 1h34 ‘). Qualified in Madrid, Kristina Mladenovic will not see the main draw in Rome.
