Alize Cornet was full of pride in her center court performance at the French Open. The French hopeful stunned 20th seeded Barbora Strycova on Court Philippe Chatrier with a 6-4, 6-1 at Roland Garros Thursday.
The Czech led the series in dramatic fashion winning their last four of six. While a win hadn’t come since Antwerp in 2015, the 31-year-old had her eyes set on getting another. Her active play in the clay court season had its ups and downs but success better than her French opponent gave her the upper hand. She proved that taking down Alison Riske in the opening round Tuesday putting herself in good shape to continue her path. Cornet had a battle on her hands in round one and would likely see more of the same despite having home advantage.
Cornet went down a pair against the Czech but managed to cover the spread after the fourth where Strycova tripped herself up during a rally that seemed to rattle her as well. It was just what the French star needed to get back but her opponent’s condition was morally a concern. She kept that in the back of her head and continued to deal with Strycova offense that helped her regain back the lead and widen the margin through six. Cornet still had something to offer her opponent in her attempts to hold serve in the seventh. It was the longest game of the set so far lasting eight minutes before the French star held together on deuce.
It was the turning point for her in the set as she carried momentum in the eighth and never turned back. Cornet managed to hold off Strycova from then on to ease her way to winning the set 6-4 in one hour and six minutes. It was an overall struggle for both sides as they served well under 60 percent which was a shock for the 20th seed who came into the match as the favorite to dictate.
Instead she found herself on the wrong end of things witnessing Cornet take point in the second set, making the journey difficult. After the third, the French star dictated the pace, finding her way to a 4-1 hold on the Czech. When she picked up another, Strycova had her opportunities dwindling quickly as a fight on deuce gave her life against the serve of Cornet. It was quickly put the rest as the 27-year-old fought on to win the seventh game and pull off the upset against Strycova completing the match win in 1 hour and 47 minutes.
Her efforts to keep a strong offense were the key to being the strongest one on court as she maintained her first serve while the struggles endured on her second serve. Minimizing the unforced errors to winners ratio was enough as her opponent didn’t bring her best on the day. With Cornet guaranteed to play another day, she’ll await the winner between Agnieszka Radwanska and Alison van Uytvanck in the third-round Saturday.
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