Fiona Ferro still hopes to make it into the main draw at Roland-Garros.
Falling back to 150th in the world after disastrous results in recent months, the Frenchwoman fought for more than 2h30 to overcome Moyuka Uchijima (7-5, 6-7, 7-5).
The 20-year-old Japanese player held on well, taking advantage in particular of Ferro’s inability to convert her match points: after dropping five in the first set, the ex-39th player in the world had to fight until at the end of the third set, finally managing to win on his 10th opportunity.
She will face American Hanna Chang for a place in the third and final round of these qualifications.
A Frenchwoman will see the third round
A stage at which a tricolor player is guaranteed to appear. It will be either Jessika Ponchet (25 years old, 196th in the WTA), who held her rank against the Czech Tereza Smitkova (6-3, 7-5), or Tessah Andrianjafitrimo (23 years old, 139th), winner of a match 3-hour marathon against a young prodigy on the circuit, the 17-year-old Czech Linda Fruhvirtova (2-6, 6-4, 7-6).
On the other hand, it is already over for Elsa Jacquemot. The young Lyonnaise, now 173rd in the world, was dominated by the Australian Lizette Cabrera (7-5, 6-3).