Pauline Parmentier bounces over Foretz Gacon in round two – Internationaux de Strasbourg 2012
In an all-French affair, Pauline Parmentier made an epic comeback to outclass Stephanie Foretz Gacon in a three-set thriller at the Internationaux de Strasbourg 2012 on Wednesday. She formulated a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory against her compatriot to progress
into the quarter-finals at this clay court event which is part of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Tour 2012 held in France.
Parmentier took down the world number 86 in their fourth encounter at this International-level tournament. After earning the limelight in one hour and 52 minutes, the winning French not only extended her lead in the head-to-head series by 3-1 against Foretz
Gacon but also secured a place in the final eight.
"It was really tough because I played against a good friend of mine," Parmentier commented in a post-match press conference. "I was a little bit nervous at the beginning and she played really aggressive in the first set. But I kept fighting until the end
and it turned out well for me."
The 31-year-old French brought her experience into hand and took the early ascendancy. She drew the first blood in the second game and despite losing her edge in the very next game, Foretz Gacon capitalised on another break chance and took a 3-1 lead. She
then exchanged a serve break after that and kept remaining serves to seal the opener with a 6-3 win.
Parmentier hit back in the following set and swiftly held her opening serve. After her rival kept her serve in the fourth game, the beaming French unleashed her skills and wiped out the last four games in a row. She defended the lone breakpoint she faced
and capitalised on two out of three break chances to pull out the equaliser with a 6-2 score line.
Ranked 66th in the WTA Premier rankings, Parmentier kept momentum rolling in the final set and earned the critical break in the second game to jump to a 2-0 lead. After exchanging two serve breaks, the higher ranked French swiped in remaining
serves and pocketed the decider with a 6-3 success.
All in all, the blooming French took full advantage of the six double faults Foretz Gacon committed. Parmentier also clobbered a better first serve share of 58 per cent as compared to her rival’s 53 per cent and impressively clicked 28 out of 45 points on
it.
Next up for the 26-year-old is the Russian qualifier, Alexandra Panova, who battled past Czech Republic’s Lucie Hradecka in three sets to set up this duel.
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