The unseeded Cornet beat ninth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-2, 6-1 in the third round of the French Open. (Source: Reuters)
Alize Cornet and Caroline Garcia won their matches on Saturday to put three French women into the fourth round of the French Open for the first time since 1994. The unseeded Cornet beat ninth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-2, 6-1, and the 28th-seeded Garcia beat Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan 6-4, 4-6, 9-7 in remaining third-round play. They join No. 13 Kristina Mladenovic, who won on Friday.
The last time three Frenchwomen got through to the last 16 of a major was at the 2008 U.S. Open. More good news for the home fans at Roland Garros: they are guaranteed a quarterfinalist because Garcia plays Cornet next.
“I think the crowd is going to be excited,” Cornet said. “We will try to give them a good show, a good game. The crowd support is like a bonus, an extra energy.” Meanwhile, 2014 runner-up Simona Halep eased through to the last 16 with a 6-0, 7-5 win against 20-year-old Russian Daria Kasatkina.
Halep showed no signs of the ankle injury that threatened to rule her out of the tournament. She next plays No. 21 Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain. She beat No. 14 Elena Vesnina of Russia 6-4, 6-4.
In remaining third-round men’s play, seventh-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia swatted aside Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 6-3, 6-3. The 2014 U.S. Open champion next faces big-serving South African Kevin Anderson, who beat Britain’s Kyle Edmund 6-7 (6), 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.
Spaniard Fernando Verdasco also got through with a much quicker 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 win against No. 22 Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay. Top-ranked Andy Murray last year’s runner-up was facing big-hitting Argentine Juan Martin del Potro. Also, 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka played Italian Fabio Fognini, who is seeded 28th.
