Alize Cornet topples Edina Gallovits-Hall to reach round two – Nurnberger Gastein Ladies 2012
Seventh seeded Alize Cornet got the better of the Romanian contender, Edina Gallovits-Hall, in straight sets at the Nurnberger Gastein Ladies 2012 on Tuesday. She nudged up a 7-5, 7-5 victory against the 27-year-old to charge into the second round at this
WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International tournament held in Bad Gastein, Austria.
The French seed proved her class in this one hour and 59-minute epic and after breaking her rival’s serve six times, she secured a spot in the round of 16. As a result, Cornet not only extended her lead in the head-to-head series by 2-0 against the world
number 106 but also inched closer towards her second WTA career title.
"I was supposed to play yesterday and I waited the whole day. Finally I won in two sets today," the French stated in a post-match press conference. "I'm pretty happy. I think it's going to be tough conditions all week, so I'll have to be ready."
Cornet stormed into this red clay court tournament and drew the first blood in the opening game to take the initial lead. She lost her edge in the fourth game but got the upper hand again in the seventh game. Apart from levelling the scores at 4-4, the French
remained focused and got the breakthrough in the 11th game, eventually sealing the opener by winning seven games to five.
Ranked 73rd in the WTA Premier Rankings, Cornet maintained her intensity in the following set and after breaking the Romanian’s serve twice, she jumped to a 4-1 lead. Regardless of losing her serve twice and levelling the scores in the 10th
game, the French cashed in another break chance in the very next game to get the upper hand again. She then held her serve once again and clicked the set with a 7-5 win.
Next in queue for Cornet is Australia’s Sacha Jones who hit back to outrun the Ukrainian challenger, Yuliya Beygelzimer, in three sets to set up this meeting. The Aussie youngster was broken four times but capitalised on seven out of 10 break chances to
formulate a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 success in almost two hours.
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