Alize Cornet ousts Mathilde Johansson in opening round – Internationaux de Strasbourg 2013
In an all-French encounter, third seed Alize Cornet eased past her compatriot, Mathilde Johansson, in straight sets at the Internationaux de Strasbourg 2013 on Tuesday. She jolted down a 6-3, 6-2 victory against her rival to force
her way into the second round at this WTA International level tournament taking place in Strasbourg, France.
The local number two, Cornet displayed tremendous skills and abilities to outshine Johansson. She was stated in a courtside interview after clicking this match: "It was a weird match with Mathilde because we know each other very
well and we were both a little bit nervous at the beginning of the match, even the whole match. I'm happy I got through this match in two sets, but I will have to work on some things to be more ready for tomorrow."
Cornet comfortably entered the match and held her opening game with poise. She continued hitting angled shots and swiped remaining serves. The seeded French got the breakthrough in the eighth game and clinched the opener with a
6-3 score line.
Ranked 31st in the WTA Premier Rankings, Cornet kept momentum rolling in the following set. She reeled off the opening three games with two breaks of serves and leaped to a 3-0 lead. Despite squandering her serve in
the fourth game, Cornet capitalised on another break chance in the seventh game and eventually sealed the set by winning six games to two.
Summing up the higher ranked Frenchwoman’s performance, Cornet clobbered a better first serve share of 67 per cent as compared to her rival’s 62 per cent and amazingly marked 27 out of 37 points on it. She fired an ace and committed
four unforced errors in contrast with Johansson’s seven.
The last year’s runner-up, Cornet is bidding to reach far at these clay courts again. She reflected, "I have very good memories of this tournament from last year. It was such an amazing week. I hope to do the same this year. That's
why I was a bit tight at the beginning today, because I want to do well and go as far as I can. Now that I have one match behind me, I feel much better."
Next in queue for Corner is the Polish qualifier, Magda Linette, in the round of 16. The Pole warded off late resistance to overpower the Russian contender, Olga Puchkova, in straight sets to progress. She recorded a 6-4, 7-6(2)
score line against the Russian and prevailed.
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