The only Frenchwoman still in the running in the third round of qualifying, while there were twelve at the start of the week, Léolia Jeanjean opened the doors to the final draw on Thursday. The Frenchwoman (28 years old) overthrew Robin Montgomery, 182nd in the ATP ranking, on the Suzanne-Lenglen court (4-6, 6-2, 6-4). The Montpellier woman, who went through the qualifiers at Roland-Garros, for the first time in her career, will thus compete in the main draw for the third year in a row.
However, the task was far from simple against the young American (19 years old), who had notably played a third round in Madrid during her clay court season. The first set showed it well and an inspired Montgomery (17 winning shots in this round alone) won it with authority.
A decisive mental set
But the Frenchwoman made Jeanjean. She held on, brought back everything she could and varied the strikes to break her opponent’s rhythm and push her to make a mistake. This is how she upset the dynamics of this duel, first returning to a set everywhere, before a disjointed third round.
Jeanjean broke from the start, then found herself trailing 4-2, not without an extended game to see Montgomery come back to 2-2, with the help of the net strip. But the Héraultaise, frustrated for a while, found the thread which had allowed her to return to the surface and managed, once again, to disrupt the American, who committed 25 of her 50 unforced errors in the decisive set. “She hits very hard, she serves very well,” Jeanjean admitted after the match. They’re girls, if I play in their rhythm, I know I don’t have a chance. If I start playing tense, taking the ball early, it’s not my game at all. I try to play, to play a little high, a little slice, not to give rhythm. Ultimately, that’s what destabilized her. »
The premium on experience therefore for Léolia Jeanjean, who was able to lie down on the ground of the Suzanne-Lenglen court, which had not yet succeeded during her first visit in 2022 (defeat against the Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu at third round). A bad memory now exorcised.
