Alize Cornet hit back to outsmart Shahar Peer in round two – Internationaux de Strasbourg 2012
Crowd favourite, Alize Cornet, bounced back to overpower the Israeli number one, Shahar Peer, in a three-set thriller at the Internationaux de Strasbourg 2012 on Wednesday. The local starlet registered a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory against her rival to progress into the quarter-finals at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International event taking place in Strasbourg, France.
The local wildcard entrant, Cornet needed almost two and half hours and three sets to triumph over Peer for the first time in their fourth meeting. After pocketing this match, the French not only avenged her loss at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami earlier this season but also secured a spot in the last eight.
"Shahar is a very good player," the blossoming French reflected in a post-match press conference. "I was 64 43 down. I was not in good shape. I really thought I would lose in the second set, but the crowd cheered me up. They were really important in this match, my coach as well. Thanks to them, I won this match. I'm very happy to get through. It feels great."
The 25-year-old made quick in-roads at this clay court event and drew the first blood in the third game to go 2-1 up. Regardless of exchanging two serve breaks after that, Peer plucked her serve once more and clicked the opener with a 6-4 win.
Peer carried her momentum into the following set and earned the coveted break in the opening game to take the initial lead. Apart from losing her edge in the very next game, she broke the French’s serve again and trailed at 3-4.
However, the 22-year-old on the other end re-focused her strategy wiped out the last three games consecutively. She saved two out of four breakpoints she faced and capitalised on three out of four break chances to seal the equaliser by winning six games to four.
83rd ranked Cornet went out of control in the final set. Cornet blocked all three breakpoints she encountered and cashed in three out of seven break chances, ultimately pulling out the decider with a bagel.
Overall, the French spilled several unforced errors and committed 11 double faults. She also produced a lower first serve share of 58 per cent as compared to Peer’s 62 per cent and clicked 38 out of 59 points on it.
Next challenge for Cornet is the fourth seed, Anabel Medina Garrigues, who dumped the Taiwanese contender, Su-Wei Hsieh, in straight sets to set up this meeting.
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