Back on the tennis courts this week, Diane Parry is taking part in the Wimbledon qualifying tournament. For her first round, she faced Ukrainian Oleksandra Oliynykova.
Ten days after her early elimination in the qualifiers for the Nottingham tournament, where she was defeated in two sets by Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva (25 years old, ranked 67th in the world), Diane Parry has set her sights on the qualifiers for the third Grand Slam of the season, Wimbledon. On grass, the player from Nice has not achieved significant results since her semi-final last year in Nottingham. Thus, she embarked on this new journey without great certainty. For her first round, she was up against another Ukrainian, Oleksandra Oliynykova (24 years old, ranked 196th in the world). An opponent within her reach.
This would be quickly confirmed, as after just a few minutes of play, the player from Nice got the measure of her opponent. Despite a dry spell on her first serves, Diane Parry played with power and managed to finish points with her forehand or at the net. In the middle of the first set, she racked up winning points and pulled away to take the set (6-1).
It seemed then that qualification was well underway. Especially since Oleksandra Oliynykova was broken again at the start of the second set. However, Diane Parry would eventually relax, giving confidence back to her opponent. The player from Nice started making unforced errors and completely lost the thread of the match. Although her first serves stayed reliable, she remained vulnerable as soon as rallies lasted a bit longer. As a result, she ended up paying the price at the end of the set, conceding the break at 5-3 without being able to react. Oleksandra Oliynykova got back into the match (6-3).
The final set wasn’t much better. Diane Parry managed to find her tennis at times, but her inconsistency prevented her from taking a lead in the score. This was due to her opponent being more solid with game variations and pushing the French player to her limits. Fortunately, the Maralpina eventually regathered herself and found her aim again with her forehand. Winning points followed one another, and the outcome slowly unfolded. Diane Parry won in three sets (6-1/3-6/6-3) after just under two hours of battling against herself. Tomorrow, in the second round, she will face Russian Alina Charaeva.
