Paris (AFP)

Fiona Ferro (49th) continued her ascent by reaching for the first time in her career the knockout stages in the Grand Slam on Saturday at Roland Garros, a level that the young Clara Burel did not manage to cross.

On the Central court, lit from 4:00 p.m. and engulfed in an autumn cold, Ferro had to scrap for nearly three hours (2:48 to be precise) to overcome the Romanian Patricia Maria Tig (59th) 7-6 (9/7), 4-6, 6-0.

Now awaits him a face-to-face with the American Sofia Kenin, world No. 6 and winner of the Australian Open in early February.

Reaching "my first round of 16 in a Grand Slam here is really the best thing that could happen to me," smiled the 23-year-old, who had never made it past the third round in a major tournament.

Emmanuel Planque, her trainer since the end of 2019, is "not surprised": "From mid-May, we had a long enough period to work, she played a lot, with boys only, and her game seems to have crossed a threshold, "he recalls.

This presence for the first time in the second week of a Grand Slam rewards a discreet but steady progression, from the top 100 in autumn 2018 to the top 50 in early August.

It also comes to further embellish a post-Covid-19 recovery without any false note.

- Undefeated -

Ferro chained on Saturday an 18th consecutive victory, after his success in two preparation tournaments organized by the French Tennis Federation in July, in Nice and Cannes, then his WTA title in Palermo in early August, the second of his career after Lausanne in 2019 .

"I have the feeling that something was set in motion, and it happened in Palermo", continues Planque, who highlights the enormous progress made by his student in attitude.

Before Roland Garros, however, Ferro had been forced to give up the American Cincinnati-US Open mini-tour concentrated in New York and had therefore not played since his Sicilian coronation, the fault of edema in the ribs.

That didn't stop her from continuing her momentum.

Against Tig on Saturday, the first set alone stretched for 1h23.

Not discouraged by her loss, the Romanian found the resources to equalize.

But, with shock absorbers well affected in particular, Ferro did not leave him the slightest play in the decisive set.

"It was a very difficult game physically and mentally, I really had to work on every point," she describes.

Can she dream bigger in this 2020 edition?

“Why not?” Planque replies.

"We will continue to be ambitious".

Unlike Ferro, Clara Burel, she let slip the chance to invite herself in the second week from her first Roland-Garros, at only 19 years old.

- Tsitsipas saves himself -

Three first set balls on the engagement of her opponent, an opportunity to serve for the win of this round, and a shovel of break points not converted in the end: the young Bretonne, ex-N.1 world juniors and au- beyond the 350th rank in the WTA rankings, has provided multiple opportunities against Shuai Zhang.

But the Chinese finally came out of it somehow in two very tight sets (7-6, 7-5) after more than two hours of fighting.

Side glass half empty, Burel regretted not having "known how to seize the opportunities".

Glass side half full, she never stopped fighting in this meeting and now knows "capable of beating girls of the Grand Slam level, girls of the Top 100 and even the Top 50".

This is not nothing when we know that its outbreak was slowed down by an operation on the left wrist in the spring of 2019.

In the men's table, Stefanos Tsitsipas (N.6) again saved his energy, he who had lived a first round to extend, in which he had been led two sets to zero.

Just like Andrey Rublev (N.12), his striker in the final in Hamburg last Sunday.

The first benefited from the abandonment of the Slovenian Aljaz Bedene (56th) at the start of the third set (6-1, 6-2, 3-1), the second ejected the South African Kevin Anderson (118th) 6-3 , 6-2, 6-3 in just over 1.5 hours.

Qualifications also of Grigor Dimitrov and Karen Khachanov on the men's side, of Petra Kvitova and Ons Jabeur on the women's side.

© 2020 AFP