News Women's Qualifying Singles. Roland Garros 2014. 24 May 2014

LARCHER DE BRITO

The final round of women’s qualifying at Roland Garros on Saturday had it all – the shock upsets of high seeds, the smooth progress of others, the arrival of new faces and the welcome return of some tour veterans. In the end, after a one-day delay thanks to Friday's rain, nine women secured their place in the main draw of the tournament, joining the three – Maryna Zanevska, Yuliya Beygelzimer and Danka Kovinic – who progressed late on Friday afternoon. Possibly the most notable result was young American Grace Min’s rout of top seed Irina-Camelia Begu. Min, who just a few weeks ago turned 20, came through a tough opening set in 40 minutes, before romping through the second set to post a 6-4, 6-0 victory. 

WOZNIAK

The out-of-sorts Begu, who a day earlier had posted her own comprehensive victory to advance to the final round, looked set to get on the board in the sixth game of the second set only to dissolve into errors; a poorly-executed drop shot on match point handed Min the win. 
 As Begu struggled, second seed Heather Watson flourished. The Brit, who yesterday was stretched to 7-5 in the third set against Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine, today had no such trouble, breezing to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit in just 48 minutes. It was a similarly comfortable day at the office for Tamira Paszek; the Austrian demolished Carina Witthoeft of Germany 6-0 6-1 in less than an hour. Paszek, a former world No.26 and twice a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon, will contest the main draw at Roland Garros for the seventh time, and will have a chance to go past the first round in Paris for the first time since her debut in 2007. Another former top 30 star, Aleksandra Wozniak, also advanced to the main draw after a tough final-round clash with Cagla Buyukakcay of Turkey. 

H. WATSON

Wozniak ultimately triumphed 6-4, 6-4, but not before some dicey moments in the second set; Buyukakcay held break point in the eighth game, but a laser-like backhand winner from the Canadian erased that opportunity, helping the former world No.21 eventually level scores at 4-4, and run away with the match in one hour and 26 minutes. As the weather became greyer and rainier at Roland Garros, Michelle Larcher de Brito recovered to win in two tight sets. Something of a qualifying stalwart, the Portuguese player has been forced to contest the qualifying draw at her last 10 Grand Slam events, but by qualifying today, she has successfully done so at four of the past five. Down 4-2 in the second set, the 21-year-old gritted her way out of trouble to post a 7-5, 7-5 victory in one hour and 43 minutes. 
 Over on Court 11, Sofia Shapatava returned from the brink to beat Australian No.16 seed Olivia Rogowska. Rogowska built a 6-3, 5-3 lead and served for the match in the 10th game only for the Georgian to come storming back to win a second-set tiebreak. Shapatava’s early service break in the third set was a buffer she would maintain for the remainder of the match; she ran out a 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 victor.