The qualifying week of the London Grand Slam continues for the Maralpines. After their qualification for the second round yesterday, Diane Parry and Alizé Cornet were back on the courts today.
Continuing the qualifying tournament for Wimbledon. The two Maralpines once again made their mark on the London grass. Respectively victorious over Oleksandra Oliynykova and Katy Dunne, Diane Parry and Alizé Cornet have paved their way to the second round today.
The first to compete was Diane Parry. The Niçoise faced the Russian Alina Charaeva (23 years old, world no. 184). A very tight match in the first set. Neither player was able to break the other’s serve. It was in the tie-break that everything was decided. Diane Parry quickly made the difference to win 7-3.
Marked by the loss of this first set, her opponent dropped in intensity and saw the match slip away. Less comfortable on the second serve, she gave many opportunities to the Niçoise to take the lead. Ultimately, Diane Parry won without too much difficulty (7-6/6-2) in 1h30 of play. For her final qualifying match, she will play against the young Australian talent Emerson Jones, a semi-finalist in the French Open juniors this year.
Alizé Cornet close to her main draw goal for her last Grand Slam
It was one of the goals of Alizé Cornet’s return: to play a final Wimbledon. A goal that has never been closer for the Maralpine. To achieve this, she found the key against a very promising young player from Andorra, Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva (19 years old, world no. 136). Very comfortable on clay, this young woman who has represented the new generation of women’s tennis for a little over four years now doesn’t have much experience on grass. An advantage for the Niçoise, who was able to leverage her experience.
However, things started badly for Alizé Cornet in the first set. Despite a strong presence at the net, the Maralpine could not be incisive enough on returns. Adding to this a slight dip in her first serve, and the first set slipped away in just over half an hour (6-3).
But the game was far from over for Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva. Fired up and determined not to end her career on one of Wimbledon’s side courts, Alizé Cornet went into warrior mode. The Niçoise didn’t drop a single point and managed to level the match at one set each.
While there might have been doubts about the Niçoise’s physical condition, those doubts were dispelled this late afternoon in England. Very agile on the few points played, Alizé Cornet managed to take the lead in the final set and held it despite a break back. In the end, the Niçoise turned the match around in three sets (3-6/6-3/6-3) in just over two hours of play.
Tomorrow, for the next and final qualifying round, Alizé Cornet will face her compatriot Elsa Jacquemot.
