Lyon (AFP)

The French Clara Burel and Kristina Mladenovic qualified Thursday for the quarter-finals of the Lyon women's tennis tournament, of which Caroline Garcia, seeded N.3, was eliminated after her severe defeat against the Swiss Viktorija Golubic (6- 1, 6-2).

The great adventure continues for Burel (19) who beat his compatriot Alizé Cornet, seeded N.4 (6-1, 1-6, 6-3) in the first round.

218th in the world, she defeated the Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich (N.96) 7-5, 2-6, 6-0 and will face in the quarterfinals, Friday, the French N.1 and seeded N.2 of the tournament, Fiona Ferro.

"The first run was a bit disjointed but I got through it. I felt some pain in the second set but I got over it before hanging on in the third. It paid off. It's nice to win some such matches. It had been a long time since I had chained two tournaments with so many victories, "said the 2018 junior world champion, finalist last week in the ITF $ 25,000 tournament in Poitiers.

“Being able to play a WTA tournament and especially here in Lyon is beneficial to me when there are few events in prospect for me who mainly play tournaments on the secondary circuit. Now Fiona (Ferro) plays great tennis. It will be a very tough game against a very good player that I can't wait to face, ”she added as she enters the World Top 200 at the next WTA ranking on Monday.

Seeded N.4, Mladenovic, 53rd in the world, was quick to face Russian Margarita Gasparyan (N.130) with a 6-4, 6-2 victory.

"I started well before a lack of concentration but my opponent put out some good returns and served well. It reversed but I was solid at the end of the first set," she commented. very happy with this victory ".

Mladenovic will face the next round, the winner of Thursday night's game between Switzerland's Stefanie Voegele and N.7 seed of Spain Paula Badosa, a match she "intended to follow".

The big disappointment came from Caroline Garcia, who fell from a height against a player from the qualifying table.

Seeded N.3, 47th in the world, who had hardly beaten the French Océane Dodin (N.110) on Tuesday in three sets, conceded an expeditious defeat (6-1, 6-2) against the Swiss Viktorija Golubic (N .129).

"I lack consistency in my game, in my positioning and precision. It cost me to be more solid and put her under pressure," she tried to explain.

"It would have been interesting to be able to continue in the tournament", added the Lyonnaise, involved in the organization as a shareholder of the event from which she left prematurely and which subsequently plans to play in Dubai, Miami or even Bogota.

The last quarter-final will oppose the Italian Camila Giorgi (N.81) to the formidable Danish Clara Tauson (N.139), after qualifying.

© 2021 AFP