2011 French Open: Alize Cornet topples Renata Voracova in first round
World number 78 Alize Cornet justified her top billing when she downed Czech Renata Voracova in the first round of the 2011 French Open at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France on Sunday. Cornet from Nice, France won a high
quality first round match 6-4, 6-2 to claim her berth in the second round of the prestigious French Open for the fifth time in her career.
Cornet and Voracova were separated by 42 places on the world rankings but they put up a great fight and were evenly contested during the match. However the Czech pro started to show signs of fatigue and allowed her 21-year-old
opponent to take full advantage. Cornet stepped up her attacking abilities and at the beginning of the second set, seizing on her opponent’s mistake and racing away to big leads.
Cornet got through to the final set with majority of points and Voracova did not have such an easy road through. Cornet remained unbroken and successfully converted two of five break points against Voracova on return. She quickly
stacked up a 4-1 lead in the first set, before Voracova managed to push herself to win next three games. Voracova was not strong enough as her opponent was winning rally after rally. The Czech pro suffered considerable trouble due to her opponent’s magnificent
shots, and finally lost the first set with a 6-4 score line.
After losing the first set, the Czech pro never broke back and the final set saw an abrupt down fall in her game. In comparison, her French opponent looked very relaxed and assured her straight sets victory by hitting a single
ace and 67 percent of points on her first serve. Moreover, she did not allow her Czech opponent to get into her stride and successfully managed to sneak the second set with a 6-2 score.
Cornet concluded her straight sets victory with 9 winners and two double faults. Furthermore, she won 69 percent of points on her first serve, 53 percent of points on her second serve and 48 percent of points on return.
Hometown hope Cornet continues her run at Roland Garros, as she squares off against either Anastasia Pivovarova of Russia or Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain in the second round of the French Open.
Cornet made a respectable start to this season, but she is in a dreadful slump at the moment. Of course, that should not come as a major surprise because the 78-ranked Frenchwoman is 11-12 this year and she is coming off a second
round loss to Nadia Petrova in Strasbourg. The Frenchwoman has a chance of fending off an upset bid, but she will have to raise her level considerably in order to do so.
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