For her entry into the Australian Open qualifiers, Fiona Ferro salvaged the French team’s record by winning in two sets against the Korean Yeonwoo Ku.
Selena Janicijevic, Alice Tubello, Ksenia Efremova, Alice Ramé, Jessika Ponchet, and Fiona Ferro. Among these six French players competing last night in the Australian Open qualifiers, only the Maralpine managed to advance. A disappointing 5-1 highlights the challenges ahead for the new coach of the French Billie Jean King Cup team, Alizé Cornet, who was present to encourage the players.
Fortunately, the silver lining came from the Côte d’Azur. In one of the last matches of the day, the Valbonne native managed to stop the downward spiral of eliminations. Up against the young Korean Yeonwoo Ku (22 years old, ranked 187th in the world), Fiona Ferro was not the favorite in a very open match. The Azurian capitalized on her recent performances, notably at the end of last year during her comeback.
Although the start of the match was complicated with some tension that needed releasing, Fiona Ferro regained her composure perfectly from the second game. The Valbonne player exploited the weaknesses in her opponent’s serve, particularly on second serves, where she often made a difference during the rally. By breaking back quickly, she left no crucial balls for her opponent throughout the match.
Much cleaner than her opponent during the match, with only 23 unforced errors compared to Yeonwoo Ku’s 47, Fiona Ferro focused on consistency rather than taking risks. And it paid off. Less spectacular, she still set the pace through careful management of rallies and surgical point finishing despite a few minor warm-up mistakes.
In terms of serving, it wasn’t perfect, but it showed improvement. With an average speed of 138 km/h on first serves, making a difference in modern tennis is challenging. However, it was sufficient to avoid being broken in the second set and maintain a lead.
Fiona Ferro prevailed (6-3/6-2) in 1 hour and 18 minutes, qualifying for the second round of the qualifiers. She will face on Wednesday a player of a completely different caliber, Linda Fruhvirtova, a former top 50 player capable of defeating anyone when she’s having a good day.
Meanwhile, Diane Parry will have her first round of qualifiers to look forward to tonight. She will play a young Russian, Elena Pridankina.
