All smiles, Fiona Ferro raised her right arm which she waved several times. Jaimee Fourlis had just sent her forehand into the net, which allowed the Frenchwoman, who won 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, to rally the main draw of Roland-Garros. Protected like Eric Winogradsky’s Lucas Pouille, the 462nd in the world managed to regroup after losing the second set. She managed to keep her break made at 2-2 in the last round. The 26-year-old player, who filed a complaint last August for repeated rape and sexual assault, between 2012 and 2015, against her former coach, Pierre Bouteyre, will play well in the first round of Roland-Garros, but in the table final.
Laurent Lokoli, as always, hung on. But the Corsican, 198th in the world, did not emerge victorious from his third qualifying round: he lost in two sets (7-5, 6-3), Friday, against the Italian Flavio Cobolli (159th) . Broken at 3-3 in the first set, Lokoli managed to pick up at 5-5 while his opponent served to win the set. But the French cracked in stride and conceded the first set. Broken from the start of second, he had an opportunity to unbreak but ended up giving in, losing his serve one last time.
The dream has come to an end for Alice Robbe. The 23-year-old Manchoise (190th) had a hard time facing the 16-year-old Czech prodigy, Brenda Fruhvirtova (146th). Physically diminished, she lost heavily (6-3, 6-0) despite a tight start to the match and a crazy atmosphere on court n°7. It’s also over for Elsa Jacquemot (175th), narrowly beaten (6-2, 4-6, 6-4) by Switzerland’s Simona Waltert (127th).
Geoffrey Blancaneaux was not far from reaching the main draw, a performance he had accomplished last year. The 2016 Junior Roland-Garros winner easily won the first set and had two chances to serve for the match. But he did not succeed and gave up second in stride. Broken at 1-1, he came back but gave in definitively (3-6, 6-4, 6-3).