Diane Parry relaunches before Roland Garros by winning the Clarins Trophy

After her early exit in the first round in Saint-Malo, Fiona Ferro is back, still in France, at the Clarins Trophy, a challenger tournament in Paris. The Nice native Diane Parry, eliminated in the first round of qualifying in Rome, also came to bounce back at the Paris tournament.

Following her recent difficult performances in Saint-Malo and at the two WTA 1000 clay court tournaments in Madrid and Rome, Diane Parry regained confidence by stringing together impressive victories in the Clarins Trophy largely impacted by rain.

She begins her tournament this Tuesday, facing Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia, a former top 10 player. In the first set, the Nice native quickly takes control by leading 3/0. More aggressive, she also benefits from a very sluggish start from her opponent. A similar scenario in the second set, the Frenchwoman takes off by relying on solid serving and deep, aggressive play that leaves no chance for her opponent. She concludes the match with a double break advantage, final score 6/3-6/2.

In an all-French second round played Wednesday and Thursday due to rain, Diane Parry qualifies at the expense of Chloé Paquet, last year’s finalist. Confident in the first set, the Nice native converts her second set point and wins 6/4. The rest of the match is equally tight, and after numerous breaks on both sides, it is Diane Parry who ultimately prevails in three sets, 6/4-3/6-6/4. The match statistics demonstrate the closeness of the encounter, with the Nice native winning only one more point than her opponent.

Following the withdrawal of Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva, Diane Parry advances directly to the semi-finals, where she faced Russian Alina Charaeva this Saturday. The Frenchwoman comes through in an extremely tight match in which, like her previous match, she won only one more point than her opponent. The Nice native thus reaches the final after a victory in two tie-breaks and more than 2.5 hours of battle.

This Sunday in the final of the Clarins Trophy, Diane Parry faced top seed Madison Keys. After another rain interruption over the capital, the American comes back strong and wins the first set 6/3. Unfortunately, with a thigh injury, Madison Keys was unable to finish the match and was forced to retire at 3/3 in the second set.

Diane Parry wins the Clarins Trophy title in Paris. Despite two victories via retirement, it was an impressive week for the Nice native. For her final tuneup before Roland Garros, Diane Parry is expected at the Strasbourg WTA 500, where she is scheduled to play Tuesday against Emma Raducanu.

Fiona Ferro helpless against top seed Madison Keys

Fiona Ferro, winner of the Oeiras challenger two weeks ago, was forced to retire just a few days later in Saint-Malo. A wild card this week at the Clarins Trophy (Paris challenger), the Valbonne native drew the “worst” possible bracket, facing in her first match top seed and Grand Slam champion, Madison Keys. 

A heavy favorite, the American fully lived up to her status, dominating her opponent of the day. The first set is nonetheless quite competitive. Although Fiona Ferro falls behind 4-1 early on, she has four break-back points at 5/4 on Madison Keys’ serve, which ultimately holds. In the second set, the players trade blows until 2-2, then the American takes off and leaves nothing to our Frenchwoman. In the end, a “logical” defeat for Fiona Ferro, 6/4-6/2.

Fiona Ferro is currently competing at the Rabat WTA 250, where she qualified for the main draw this Sunday, and will receive a wild card to enter directly into the Roland Garros draw, which begins May 24.