Alize Cornet had her struggles early on in the French Open but finished with a win on Tuesday. The French veteran battled it out against Timea Babos to win 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-2 on Court One at Roland Garros.
The two top 45 players have never faced on another in their long histories of playing the sport. So far both have gone one for four on the clay courts this season with one hoping that her playing on home soil could give her the leverage. Cornet started in her 13th French Open hoping that she could repeat or better her finish from 2015 where she made it to the round of 16. For Babos, her fourth time in the main draw remained a point where she had little to lose and more to gain if her skills could top that of her opponent.
She took a two-game lead going into the opening set which woke up the French star to act. Cornet delivered a tough game in the third where the two went nearly seven minutes and three breaks before she got the win to her name. It seemed to do much more than that as she took off winning the next four straight albeit at a slow pace. 42 minutes had elapsed before Cornet reached the point of playing for the set with a majority of the momentum leaning her way. After 48 minutes, she put the first set to rest with a complete rout of her Hungarian opponent who had very little responses in her game.
She had a better outcome in the second staying tight with Cornet in the set. Despite having gaps of two games between her and Cornet, the Hungarian felt positive on her want to perform at a better rate. She got into a draw with the French star that led the two to fighting for control of the set. A big answer in the tenth from Babos led the two to play onward setting up a dramatic finish but also plenty of pressure on the shoulders of the French star.
She was the first to act in extra frames taking her service hold seriously. The same went for Babos who wanted nothing more than to stay in the tournament and did so with a hold of two points between her and Cornet. Things went straight into a tiebreak where Cornet hadn’t had luck in recent history but gave it her all with the home crowd behind her. It wasn’t enough for her to counteract the run that Babos had going as she took control of the tiebreak making her way to a 7-5 victory that ultimately set into place a third set. It took a full hour to complete the set and with the match going the distance it would be anyone’s to win with a second-round advance on the line.
For Cornet, the need for a win at home was essential to her confidence but also to being one of the favorites from her home country. She put that in her mind and produced a dominant game beyond the third that saw her in good control. She took things into a near gear getting well under control to be up 5-1 with the match in her grasp. Babos was closer than ever to the edge of defeat and knew that a service hold had to come together in the seventh. It kept her alive but as Cornet got the ball in hand in the eighth, her eyes were set on closing things out.
The 27-year-old opened the score at 30-0 and allowed just a point to Babos before ending the match with a good set of shots to get a well-deserved victory. Aside from holding the first serve together, the difference maker in the match was minimizing the unforced errors in the late stages. For Babos, it was a tough outing as she racked up 47 on the day that led her to her demise. She’ll go back to the drawing board while Cornet settles in against the winner between Barbora Strycova and Alison Riske on Thursday.
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