Alize Cornet put in a lot of effort in her battle against Caroline Garcia but came up short at the French Open Monday. She brought together a thrilling second set but fell 6-2, 6-4 against her French counterpart on Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros. The win for the St. Germaine en Laye native allowed her to reach her first singles quarterfinal in a grand slam.
Two of Frances popular found themselves duking it out for a coveted spot in the quarterfinals. They met back in 2010 when they were both still in ITF competition. With the scenery having changed dramatically since then, the fight would be an exciting match up where one had her game together while the other had yet to face anyone worthwhile. The time came for both top 50 ranked players to bring their best and determine who would represent the host nation going forward.
The two stayed on serve despite the battle for control that came in the third as Cornet hunted down the opening break. Garcia kept it together to take the advantage and avoid any change in the pace she had begun. It wasn’t till the sixth when she overtook her compatriot with an important break that put two games between them. Cornet’s deficit did not take much away from her game as she fought in the seventh to break Garcia but lost the chance after three breaks sending Garcia to play for the set.
Cornet dug in hard to be the one dictating the eighth but the big forehand strokes from Garcia continued to beat her opponent on deuce. After three set point attempts, the St. Germain native captured the victory ending 39 minutes of play with a strong statement. Her serve helped her win 76 percent of points on the first serve and had a second serve faring better than her opponent.
The onslaught proceeded in the second with Garcia taking an early break for the lead with her ground high ground strokes taking care of business against Cornet. It was a seven-game winning streak that Garcia carried until Cornet found her placement to succeed in the fourth on serve. It remained a battle for her against the 28th seed as she kept the margin large enough to hold back Cornet from overtaking.
The seventh was another important moment for both as they got to deuce with Garcia on the ball to get her way to serving for a quarterfinal spot. The game was becoming the longest so far spanning nine minutes and five breaks with Cornet earning the deserved break. She soon fell into trouble as her shots across court fell too far from keeping play alive. Instead the unforced errors allowed Garcia to take the break in the eighth and serve for the match.
The nerves played a role in her service to Cornet as the importance of making it further than ever were hanging in the balance. Garcia let up with errors that gave Cornet a double break point where a double fault handed Cornet another game to play in. It was one Cornet also had issues double faulting twice to give Garcia three match points.
The 12-shot rally ended with a massive error from Garcia into the net making it one point saved. She would not get a second as a far shot return landed short of the net ending the 90-minute match that gave her a new place in the tournament to experience.
She’ll get a much-needed day of rest before her skills are put to the test against third seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic.
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