After winning her showdown against Tereza Martincova yesterday evening, the Nice native was back on the courts of the Rome Masters 1000. In the second round, she faced the seed Qinwen Zheng, a 20-year-old Chinese player ranked 21st in the world. Right from the start, Alizé Cornet (64th in the WTA rankings) had to work hard to save six break points. It was the start of a new, challenging match. However, the ranking gap between the two players quickly became apparent. Defending from far behind her baseline, the Nice native struggled to take control of the game and execute her drop shots effectively. Despite breaking back, Alizé lost the first set (6-3).
The second set was more contested. The Chinese player, less consistent on the early points, still did not allow Cornet to gain the advantage. However, Cornet managed to break serve in the middle of the set. But the tenacity of the Nice native allowed her to immediately break back. The two players exchanged blows point for point. With her back against the wall, Cornet even saved a match point to force a tiebreak. Unfortunately, the seed quickly took the lead, advancing to 4-0. It was a gap too difficult to bridge for the second French player in the WTA rankings.
Never in a position to compete in this phase of play, it was logical that Qinwen Zheng clinched the match (6-3/7-6(7-2)).
