Place in the second round for Leylah Annie Fernandez in Paris

The Lavalloise can approach her match with confidence. Ranked 49th in the WTA, against 127th for the Dane, Fernandez made a successful entry into the running with panache on Sunday. She defeated 21st-seeded Magda Linette in three sets 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in the first round of the second grand slam trick.

She will certainly have taken advantage of the rest days to build on this success, her second win in only 10 encounters this season against a player ranked in the top 50.

If the Canadian’s service difficulties almost cost her victory on Sunday, the 20-year-old athlete limited the damage in the third set to finally overthrow the Polish woman after 2:11 a.m. on the Simonne-Mathieu court.

It was a very difficult match, recognized Fernandez. She played very well, but I think what made the difference was my behavior. I have been very positive in difficult times.

Against Tauson, who came from qualifying, Fernandez will hope that her work in training will allow her to be calm in matches, especially when you become your own enemy.

Today [dimanche], I’m glad I was able to accept my mistakes, said Fernandez. This is an aspect that we have worked on a lot this year. Double faults or imperfect ball throws happen to all players. It helped me a lot to be able to find solutions in the third round.

« I always improve in training. But in tournaments, I have bad luck with the draw or I make mistakes that cost me the match, analyzes Fernandez. I see a progression in training and I believe that the results will come one day. I hope sooner rather than later. »

Response is expected to begin around noon (EDT).

Garcia and Ostapenko surprises Blinkova and Stearns

Caroline Garcia, world No. 5 and France’s best chance of the fortnight, was eliminated in the second round by Anna Blinkova (56th) in three sets of 4-6, 6-3 and 7-5. The Russian needed nine match points to conclude.

Reached the top 5 thanks to a hair-raising second half of the season in 2022, including a title in Cincinnati, a semi-final at the United States Open – her first in a grand slam tournament –, Garcia, 29 years, struggles to live up to its new status since the beginning of the year. This defeat confirms his slump.

Peyton Stearns recorded the most important victory of her career. She defeated former champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 1-6 and 6-2 to reach the third round.

Stearns, a former University of Texas player, turned pro in June 2022.

The Latvian won Roland-Garros in 2017, but has never been able to get past the third round since. The 17th seed was broken five times, not counting his 28 unforced errors.

The 21-year-old American continues her rise in the world rankings and showed up in Paris at 69th place, following a good streak on clay.

The third seed Jessica Pegula also continued her journey after taking advantage of the abandonment of Camila Georgi, injured. The American was leading 6-2 when the Italian threw in the towel.

Then, hours after her husband Gael Monfils triumphed in five sets on Tuesday evening, Elina Svitolina came from behind to knock out qualifying Storm Hunter 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

For her part, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, 2nd in the world and favorite for the title, took a step further by beating her compatriot Iryna Shymanovich (214th) 7-5 and 6-2 in the second round without playing her best tennis.

I’m not very happy with my game today. I have work to do tomorrow to be better prepared than I was for today’s gamesaid the 25-year-old player.

Winner of her first major tournament in January in Australia, Sabalenka will face the Polish Magdalena Frech (88th) or the Russian Kamilla Rakhimova (82nd) ​​in the third round.

After a quiet match against Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk in the first round, Sabalenka was less calm against her compatriot. She was notably hooked in the first set, where she failed to confirm her break in the middle of the set, before resuming her opponent’s service in the final game.

The second round was, on the other hand, one-sided and Sabalenka was warmly applauded at the end of the meeting.

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek will return to center court later in the day, where she has an appointment with American Claire Liu.

Further updates will follow.