Alize Cornet locked herself a spot in the quarterfinals at the Brisbane International tennis tournament. The world number 41 put Christina McHale on the hot seat giving her very little chance of getting into the match to win 6-2, 6-1 in straight sets on Show Court 1 at the Queensland Tennis Centre. Cornet’s two game winning streak earned a spot in the quarterfinals for the first time in her third appearance at the tournament.
The American holds a 2-1 series lead over Cornet defeating her last at Birmingham in 2015. Though it was on grass, the two players remain even on the hard court with the Frenchwoman taking a victory from her at Indian Wells in the same season. McHale got a surprising win over Italian Sara Errani winning in straight sets while Cornet played her match to the distance before beating Elena Vesnina. With the two warmed up for the second round, the match would certainly see back and forth control on the scoreboard.
Cornet finished off the first game with strong service shots that ended in a winner across court to McHale. She nearly had a triple break in the second game but a mistake opened the door for the American to force deuce. McHale made it happen for a second game using tactics to gain the advantage and a break point chance. She played deep coverage on the rally but got into trouble on a shot attempt near the net. It was the third break point to slip away from her as the French player took a 3-0 hold sending coach Jorge Todero to come out and talk to McHale.
The words of wisdom didn’t help the American who lost another game while on serve putting Cornet in a good spot. McHale responded in the fifth with an important break of the world number 41, but her push for success was brought to a halt. The American’s concerns of a wet surface behind the baseline sent umpire Marjia Cicak to further investigate. After sending some volunteers to clear off the moisture, Cornet was informed of the delay while towels were laid on the court to dry it off.
When played resumed to begin the sixth McHale came out with a force that led to her first win on service cutting Cornet’s lead in half. When the ball got back into the French tennis star’s hands, she delivered a tough offense that broke McHale to regain a larger margin. It was McHale in a corner going into the eighth with a potential final chance at serving for the set. She dropped her chance giving Cornet an edge in the score to win the set on the break ending 52 minutes.
Cornet was handed the first game of the second set with so many unforced errors coming from her opponent. It led to a strong response from the French star that carried into a powerful response on the break. She sealed the triple break point with a challenge that she knew in her mind was good. Hawkeye showed that the ball did indeed kiss the line giving her a three-game winning streak and a two-game lead in the set.
The breakdown for the American progressed leading to another visit from her coach. Her serves in the fourth only saw Cornet viciously respond with hard hits that converted into winners on the return. She took the game by force and added a fifth straight that was spelling certain doom for the 24-year-old American. Cornet continued to dominate on the return shots blasting them away from McHale for clean winners. She answered back with the lead in the game but was forced into a drop shot return attempt that she couldn’t get back. It forced her into deuce where she scored a moral victory to prevent the dreaded bagel.
Cornet got control back in the seventh where she wasted no further time to achieve victory. She set herself up for two match points where a long ball gave the French star a spot in the final eight concluding 1 hour and 21 minutes. Despite having four double faults in the match, Cornet’s 19 winners were the key to her victory over McHale. She’ll hope to have the same results as she awaits the winner between Dominika Cibulkova and Shuai Zhang.
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