Alize Cornet wins 500th career match, advances in Cleveland

Associated PressAug 23, 2022, 2:00 PM EDT

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CLEVELAND — Alize Cornet picked up her 500th victory on the WTA Tour, beating Dayana Yastremska 6-2, 6-1 in the completion of a match that was suspended by thunderstorms a day earlier.

Cornet advanced to the second round of Tennis in The Land, a U.S. Open tuneup in downtown Cleveland.

“I’ve been on tour for 15 years and played a lot of matches, so I’m proud of getting 500 wins,” said Cornet, whose record is 500-410. “I thought about it at the beginning of the season as a short-term goal, and here we are in August. It meant something to me.”

The 32-year-old from France made her tour debut in 2005 at Roland Garros and owns six singles titles, the most recent at Gstaad, Switzerland four years ago.

Cornet, ranked No. 37, held serve every game in the 1-hour, 12-minute match against Yastremska. One set was played each day.

“I’m happy to get this one under my belt, for sure,” Cornet said. “I played better today. My shots were deeper and I was more aggressive. I hope the journey here is not over and I can keep playing a lot more matches.”

Third seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia rallied for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over fan favorite Lauren Davis, who grew up in nearby Gates Mills, Ohio. Second seed Martina Trevisan of Italy beat Mayar Sherif of Egypt 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion who received a wild card into the tournament, eliminated qualifier Dalayna Hewitt 6-4, 6-3. Plagued by injuries since her triumph in Melbourne, Kenin snapped an eight-match losing streak that began in January at Adelaide, Australia.

The top-ranked player in the 32-woman field, No. 18 Caroline Garcia, withdrew with a thigh injury one day after winning the Western & Southern Open title in the Cincinnati suburb of Mason.

Debutant Stearns beats former champ Ostapenko to reach French Open 3rd round

Associated PressMay 31, 2023, 11:14 AM EDT

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PARIS — French Open debutant Peyton Stearns produced the biggest win of her career by defeating former champion Jelena Ostapenko to reach the third round at Roland Garros.

Stearns, a former player at the University of Texas, only turned professional in June last year.

Ostapenko won the 2017 French Open but has since failed to advance past the 3rd round. The 17th-seeded Latvian dropped her serve five times against Stearns and hit 28 unforced errors in her 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 loss.

The 21-year-old Stearns has been climbing the WTA rankings and entered the French Open at No. 69 on the back of an encouraging clay-court campaign.

Third-seeded Jessica Pegula also advanced after Camila Giorgi retired due to injury. The American led 6-2 when her Italian rival threw in the towel.

Only hours after husband Gael Monfils won a five-set thriller, Elina Svitolina rallied past qualifier Storm Hunter 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

In the men’s bracket, former runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas ousted Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2. The fifth-seeded Greek was a bit slow to find his range and was made to work hard for two sets but rolled on after he won the tiebreaker.

No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 3 Novak Djokovic are on court later. Alcaraz meets Taro Daniel on Court Philippe Chatrier, where Djokovic will follow against Martin Fucsovics in the night session.

Jabeur bounces back at French Open, Ruud and Andreeva advance

Associated PressMay 30, 2023, 11:32 AM EDT

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PARIS — Ons Jabeur got a do-over on Court Philippe Chatrier at the French Open and won this time.

A year after her first-round exit, the No. 7 seed Jabeur beat Lucia Bronzetti 6-4, 6-1 to help erase some bad memories and answer questions about a recent calf injury.

The Tunisian, a crowd favorite in Paris, smiled and expressed relief in not repeating last year’s mistake, when she lost to Magda Linette of Poland.

“I’m very happy to win my first match on Philippe Chatrier – because I’ve never won here,” Jabeur said on court about the clay-court tournament’s main stadium.

Now she can focus on trying to win her first major. She was runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.

The 28-year-old Jabeur has also battled injuries this season. She had knee surgery after the Australian Open, and was then sidelined with a calf injury. She had stopped playing against top-ranked Iga Swiatek at the clay-court tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, in late April and then pulled out of the Madrid Open.

“It was a very difficult period for me after Stuttgart,” said Jabeur, adding that she’s beginning to find her rhythm.

Jabeur struck 27 winner’s to Bronzetti’s seven, though with 24 unforced errors she’ll have room to improve.

Mirra Andreeva had a memorable Grand Slam debut by dominating Alison Riske-Amritraj 6-2, 6-1. Andreeva’s older sister – 18-year-old Erika – was facing Emma Navarro later in the day.

Later, Swiatek gets her French Open title defense started against Cristina Bucsa, who is ranked 70th.

On the men’s side, No. 4 seed Casper Ruud beat qualifier Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, to remind the higher-profile tournament favorites that he was runner-up to Rafael Nadal last year at Roland Garros.