Alize Cornet battles past Sofia Arvidsson in the opening round – Open GDF Suez 2013
Home favourite, Alize Cornet, had to go through three sets before settling the clash against the 37th ranked Swede contender, Sofia Arvidsson, in the first round of Open GDF Suez on Monday. The contest lasted for one
hour and 43 minutes, with Cornet eventually coming out as the winner. The final scores were 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, in favour of the French.
Cornet was off to a flying start in the opening set, going for a five-game rampage to reach 5-0 in no time. She broke the Swedish serve in the second and the fourth games. She couldn’t wrap up the first set quickly, as Arvidsson
broke her serve in the seventh game. However, she held her next serve to bag the opener at 6-3.
The Frenchwoman carried on with her winning momentum in the following set and attained a 2-0 lead. Arvidsson pulled her down quickly and levelled the scores at 2-2. Break point conversions from the Swede in the eighth and 10th
game concluded the second set in her favour at 6-4.
Cornet came out firing in the decisive set and absolutely blasted her opponent. She broke the Swedish serve in every single serve game and rocketed away to 5-0. Arvidsson couldn’t do anything but to submit the third set at 0-6
and fall out of the tournament in a dismal manner.
Currently holding the world number 35 spot, Cornet exhibited an excellent display of precise hitting and aggressive stroke play. She was trailing 0-3 in the all-time head-to-head series against the Swede prior to the Monday’s matchup
and was under immense pressure. Arvidsson was expected to sustain her clean sheet against the French contestant but she couldn’t capitalise on the opportunities she was given in the match. The unseeded Swede had defeated Cornet three times in 2011 WTA season
but it was the payback time for the French. Cornet improved 1-3 in the one-to-one face offs.
Cornet will next face the winner of the opening round match between Spain’s Lourdes Dominguez Lino and the fifth seeded Czech, Lucie Safarova, in the second round. Lino and Safarova will battle out on Tuesday afternoon.
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