Aliaksandra Sasnovich earned the best birthday present of her career at the Miami Open Wednesday. With an ending under the lights, the 23 year old played a dramatic three set fight against Alize Cornet to win 6-4,1-6,6-4 on Court Two at Crandon Park Tennis Center. The upset became her biggest career win to move into the second round on her birthday.
The two players haven’t met before making the return for Cornet an interesting one. After recovering from a pectoral tear, the 27-year-old was ready to get into action with one quarter of the season nearly in its completion. She hasn’t been in action since Feb. 11 and awaits to see if all is well to take on the newly 23-year-old Belorussian. Sasnovich worked hard through qualifications defeating Magda Linette early this week to make it into the main draw. With that and her run at Budapest assisting in her recent success, the world ranked 120th could be an early round challenge to the French star.
Cornet rallied back from 0-30 using plenty of trick shots and easy lobs that gave her a secure victory to start the set. Sasnovich had a hard time getting a service hold as Cornet brought the defense to go for a break. She had chances to lock it down but unforced errors added fight to the Belorussian who managed to win it after a few breaks.
Things remained tight through the next few games with each getting breaks on the other but the expertise of Cornet had her carrying the leverage. Sasnovich kept the service alive making six straight but her tenacity to play deep with the French star meant that neither was safe to walk away with the set easily.
The tide turned in the ninth as Sasnovich pulled off a fight to get the first break in some time. She gained the advantage on a strong rally that gave her the victory and the chance to serve for the lead. The strength of the Belorussian was becoming a serious problem as she performed with elevated skills that gave her the set victory after 50 minutes of play. Sasnovich averaged 72 percent on the first serve and was flawless on the breaks. Cornet suffered greatly on the returns and second serve that spelled out how much needed to be changed up.
It didn’t get better for Cornet who gave up three break points before double faulting handing Sasnovich her third straight game win. Cornet knew that going down any further early in the set couldn’t happen. With all her might, she brought out everything on deuce during her serve to win the game point. Sasnovich made it very difficult gaining the advantage where Cornet had to fight to get it back. After five breaks total, she got the win that leveled her at one all.
Momentum started going her way as she held firm in the third increasing the level of her game to make a difference. The margin grew to her advantage carrying out to five games where she held three against Sasnovich. The 23-year-old tried to switching things up, but getting out of trouble was Cornet’s drop shots that beat the Belorussian to the hit. She used that strategy to get out of the draw and lead 5-1. The Frenchwoman served to level things up ending the second with a winner and a sixth consecutive victory.
The world number 45 added a seventh to her streak but the effort got harder with Sasnovich taking a new approach to the deciding set. She took the lead back with two straight game winners that her working the kinks out while pressing to stay ahead. It continued to be that way as her youth dominated Cornet who also struggled with the forehand. Unforced errors from the French start kept smashing into the net that gave Sasnovich a commanding 4-1 run. A cause for concern led Cornet to speak with her coach who tried to calm her down and give her move to counter the attack.
The sixth was her moment as a bad error from Sasnovich allowed Cornet to get a grip on the game. She did it after a brief break that handed her a second win. The offense started to come alive for her on the returns redirecting the rallies to trip up the world number 120. She fired shots down the line followed by the drop shot that gave her a chance to break. Cornet got it on a net front attempt that went sour putting the French star just a game down of leveling the set.
It was a game that had a turn of events even Cornet never saw coming. The Belorussian worked her way to force deuce at the critical moment of coming back on the breaks. A challenge won followed by a good rally gave her the advantage which she locked down to serve for all the marbles.
The birthday girl felt the nerves running through her which in turn caused her to break. Cornet worked it to her favor securing the break point to stay alive and move the ball on her terms in her quest for a tiebreak. Cornet nearly had the chance to do so till a fight from Sasnovich brought her to deuce. She gained her first match point chance to put things away. It all ended in dramatic fashion as a final return from the Belorussian went to challenge to see if the ball did indeed stay in. Video evidence showed that the ball caught the line by the width of a fingernail that brought an end to the 2 hour and 37-minute marathon.
Despite having nine double faults and a rough second serve, Sasnovich was more than happy to be done and finish celebrating two big events to occur on the day. The partying would be minimized as she had to prepare to take on Johanna Konta of Great Britain.
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