Continuation of the Billie Jean King Cup this Wednesday. Despite two singles defeats that saw the French team lose their duel against Turkey, satisfaction came from the pair Diane Parry, Alizé Cornet. The players from Nice qualified France for the quarterfinals.
The day was tough for the French tennis team. After an emphatic win yesterday against Sweden (3-0), the French team was set to face Turkey, an opponent of a whole different caliber. Once again, the coach Julien Benneteau decided early in the day to field the victorious Nice pair from yesterday, Alizé Cornet, Diane Parry.
But before that, the day was complicated. Following Clara Burel’s retirement due to a severe knee injury during the first match and then Varvara Gracheva’s defeat against Zeynep Sonmez (22 years old, ranked 77th globally) the duel turned short. However, all was not lost for the French team. Beyond that, qualifying for the quarterfinals wasn’t out of reach. Everything was therefore decided in the doubles consisting of the two players from the Côte d’Azur.
The pressure was intense on the shoulders of the Maralpine pair. Alizé Cornet and Diane Parry faced a duo of experienced players but who had never played together before. The best-known was none other than Cagla Buyukakcay, a former top 60 player who had now fallen to the 338th spot worldwide. She was accompanied by a player specialized in doubles, Ipek Oz (ranked 291st worldwide, 25 years old).
Three sets and a qualification
Like yesterday, the match was decided in three sets. The players from the Côte d’Azur won a tightly contested first set with several break points to save (6-4). The rest of the match became complicated with the loss of two service games at the very start. Trailing 0-4, Alizé Cornet and Diane Parry couldn’t manage to obtain a break point. The Turkish pair took the second set (6-1).
Pushed to a tie-break, the French players immediately took the lead. Despite a break back at 4-4, the Nice players perfectly negotiated the end of this decisive set. Alizé Cornet and Diane Parry eventually prevailed (6-4/1-6/10-7) and qualified France for the next round. A beautiful story for the Maralpines whose partnership wasn’t obvious just a few days ago.
Now onward to the quarterfinals this Friday with potentially an additional match to be played for Diane Parry following Clara Burel’s withdrawal. In any case, we should see Alizé Cornet and Diane Parry again for the doubles.
