1st title in a $100,000 open for the Canadian Sharon Fichman, ranked 92nd in the world.
The third French women’s tournament after Paris and Strasbourg, the Open GDF SUEZ of Cagnes-sur-Mer welcomed thirty nationalities for its 17th edition. Following in the footsteps of French players Emilie Loit, Stéphanie Cohen Aloro, Séverine Bremond, Tatiana Golovin, Marion Bartoli, Alizé Cornet, and Caroline Garcia, who have won this Cagnois open, the hopes retained for the 2014 edition also aimed at joining the world elite. Indeed, this tournament is a real springboard for French hopefuls.
Unfortunately, the Frenchwoman Mathilde Johansson was heavily defeated on Saturday in the semi-final against Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) in less than an hour of play (6-1 6-0).
Well placed in the calendar, this tournament is very good preparation for Roland-Garros. Caroline Garcia’s victory in 2013 allowed her to enter the top 100 in the world and join the Fed Cup team thanks to her good performances in the international circuit.
This year it’s Sharon Fichman’s turn to write her name in the list of winners. She won 6/2, 6/2 against Timea Bacsinszky. The 24-year-old Swiss (ranked 165th and former world No. 37 before undergoing three operations), who has already played in three finals this year in $15,000 and $25,000 tournaments, with two successes, was attempting to win the tournament for the second time, after her 2007 victory. But it was not counting on the tenacity, liveliness, and technical skill of Sharon Fichman, who had defeated the Dutch Kiki Bertens 7-5 6-3 in the semi-final on Saturday.
The final of the doubles draw pitted the pair Tatiana BUA (ARG) and Daniela SEGUEL (CHI), who had knocked out the tournament’s No. 1 seeds, against the pair of Kiki BERTENS (NED) and Johanna LARSSON (SWE), who had won against the No. 2 seeds in the second round. The latter won in two tightly contested sets, 7/6, 6/4.
An impressive wheelchair tennis demonstration took place on the center court this Sunday, May 11, between the French player ranked 40th, a former world No. 1, and a compatriot ranked 140th.
Final of the 9/10 years category
Laurine GARRIGUES, a young 10-year-old player from the Club de Tourves (Var), ranked 30, won the final of the best 9-10 year old tournament from the Ligue de Tennis Côte d’Azur, which took place on Saturday between the two singles semi-finals, on the center court. She defeated Grace KRITZINGER, also 10 years old, ranked 30 and from the Valbonne Sophia Antipolis club (06), with a score of 5 games to 4. She follows in the footsteps of Namie François, from US Cagnes, who had won the previous two editions.
Therefore, we thank all the tournament organizers and look forward to the next generation of French players for the next edition of the Open GDF SUEZ of Cagnes-sur-Mer in 2015.
