The French N.1 Alizé Cornet, 40th in the world, diminished by thigh pain contracted in the previous round, gave up on Saturday during her third round match against the Chinese Qinwen Zheng (74th), when she was trailing 6 -0, 3-0. There is no longer any Frenchwoman in contention in the Parisian Grand Slam. Three of them had however managed to climb to the third round, unlike last year when no tricolor representative (men and women) had reached this stage for the first time since 1968.
But after the elimination of Diane Parry on Friday, then that of Leolia Jeanjean on Saturday at the start of the day, the French chances now rest entirely on the shoulders of Gilles Simon, opposed in the afternoon to the Croatian Marin Cilic, and Hugo Gaston who will challenge the young Dane Holger Rune in the evening.
Retired shortly after the first set
On Thursday, Cornet, who reached the quarter-finals earlier this year at the Australian Open, appeared to feel pain in the inside and upper left thigh at the end of her match against the Latvian. Jelena Ostapenko, 13th in the world and winner of the 2017 edition, whom she ended up beating 6-0, 1-6, 6-3, carried by the support of the public. On Saturday, she appeared on the court with both thighs largely bandaged and was unable to defend her chances against Zheng. After calling the doctor at the end of the first set, the French ended up throwing in the towel, three games later.
The Chinese, who had eliminated in the previous round the Romanian Simona Halep (19th), winner in 2018, will be opposed in the round of 16 to the world N.1 and big favorite of the tournament, Iga Swiatek, titled Porte d’Auteuil in 2020.