Fiona Ferro, the only qualifier of the tricolor clan on Friday… What to remember about the last day of qualifying

The qualifications for Roland-Garros concluded on Friday 26 May, Porte d’Auteuil, with frustrating results in the tricolor clan. Only Fiona Ferro will accompany Lucas Pouille, who qualified on Thursday and who will find his victim from the last qualifying match, Jurij Rodionov, in the first round. Alice Robbe, Elsa Jacquemot, Laurent Lokoli and Geoffrey Blancaneaux have not been so successful and should not be chosen unless there is a massacre among players above them.

Also noteworthy is the qualification of the Russian Aslan Karatsev, seeded number one in the men’s field. The German Yannick Hanfmann, quarter-finalist a few days earlier on clay at the Masters 1000 in Rome, will have to hope to be drafted as a lucky loser. The story of this last game day before the start of hostilities on Sunday.

After Lucas Pouille, Fiona Ferro: the other “rebirth” of Italian tennis

Lucas Pouille turned the crowd around at Roland-Garros on Thursday, Fiona Ferro followed the course on Friday. Incredibly resilient, the Belgian native qualified for the main draw of Roland-Garros for the ninth time in her career, aged just 26. Ferro got rid of Aussie Jaimee Fourlis (6-3, 2-6, 6-4) in an inconsistent but overall match dominated by the Habs.

The current 462nd WTA player made the match, rightly and sometimes wrongly, with 29 game-winning points but 51 unforced errors, versus her opponent’s 10 and 38. More valiant and combative, the one who reached the knockout stage at Porte d’Auteuil in 2020 won the ticket for the 1st round at a high price. She will face the Swedish Rebecca Peterson, 86th in the world.

Fiona Ferro has had a very difficult last few months on and off the pitch. The former French number one in the WTA rankings has filed a sexual assault and rape complaint against her former coach, which Pierre Bouteyre denies. “I have experienced many emotions in recent months, not necessarily super positive.he reacted after his win. If they had told me I would be here today and qualify for the main draw at Roland, I would have signed straight away. It’s like a rebirth.” No French player has been out of qualifying since 2006!

End of the race for Jacquemot, Robbe, Lokoli and Blancaneaux

Of the five Habs competing on Friday, four stumbled in this final qualifying challenge. Elsa Jacquemot came close to great happiness, before falling in three sets against the Swiss Simona Waltert (6-2, 4-6, 6-4), seeded 14th in qualifying. Returning to the match thanks to a strong second set finish, Jacquemot suffered in the face of numerous attacks on the net by her opponent, best ranked in the WTA.