For her second round of qualifying at Roland-Garros, Fiona Ferro was up against Valbonnaise Fiona Ferro.
It was a match without success for Fiona Ferro. Just two matches away from reaching the main draw of the Parisian Grand Slam tournament, the Azuressienne, despite being the favorite, could not display her tennis skills. Facing another French player, Carole Monnet (23 years old, ranked 227th in the world), she couldn’t capitalize on her advantages at crucial moments.
At the start of the match, both players were quite tense in front of a large crowd on the Suzanne Lenglen court. Against a Carole Monnet comfortable at the net, Fiona Ferro struggled to find a breakthrough. She forced her shots and committed numerous unforced errors. These risky plays worked on opponent’s serves but were not enough over the long run. On the other side, Carole Monnet stood resilient. She managed to disrupt Fiona Ferro with her ball length. After a tightly contested first set with numerous breaks, it was ultimately Carole Monnet who came out on top (7-5).
The rest of the match was largely similar. Despite good service stats, Fiona Ferro could not make a difference on her serves. Despite some signs of tension from her opponent, there was nothing she could do. Carole Monnet logically won the match (7-5/6-2) after needing four match points to close it out in a little under an hour and a half.
In the next round, she will face young Russian Kristina Dmitruk for a place in the main draw of Roland-Garros. For Fiona Ferro, it is the end of the journey after a perhaps somewhat too late return to competition and a lack of rhythm that is unforgiving at this level.
Nevertheless, we will follow the performances of Diane Parry, who has received a wild card for the first round. Her opponent is not yet known, but once again, she will need to elevate her level of play to hope for a strong run on the clay courts of Roland-Garros.
