Alizé Cornet overcomes Elena-Gabriela Ruse and advances to the second round in Madrid

At first badly engaged in the first set, Alizé Cornet slowly came back up to Elena-Gabriela Ruse, before overtaking her and taking the victory on Wednesday (6-7 [6], 6-4, 6-3). It took 2h51 for the Frenchwoman, 71st in the WTA rankings, to overcome her opponent (158th) on the clay courts of the WTA 1000 in Madrid.

The Niçoise was able to compensate for her many errors (11 double faults) in the decisive moments, saving 10 break points, including 4 in the last set. After losing the first round in a tie-break, she moved up a notch to take the lead over the Romanian.

For the second time this year, after Charleston, Cornet will play the second round of a tournament. She will face Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, 17th in the world, on Friday.