TRELAZE, FRANCE
All square at the end of the first day’s play was no surprise to anyone, bar the most fervent fan. France may still be most people’s favourite to reach the Final, but if the Netherlands’s Kiki Bertens can follow up her straight sets victory in the opening rubber on Saturday with another win against France’s No. 1 Kristina Mladenovic the nerve ends will be jangling in the Arena Loire here.
It’s still a big ask for the Dutch and as their captain Paul Haarhuis conceded, they will not want to leave it all down to the doubles, not against a pairing as good as Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia, who won the Charleston title just six days ago. Amelie Mauresmo, the France captain, has put her trust in these two young players to take France forward, not only in the doubles but in singles too.
Many observers might have opted to play the more experienced Alize Cornet, particularly after her success in the Hobart International in January, in the singles, but Mauresmo is putting her faith in youth for the time being and on Saturday it was a qualified success.
Garcia is obviously a huge talent, but she made too many errors – or as she put it, “stupid mistakes” – against Kiki Bertens, who doesn’t need much outside help to win a tennis match.
“She needs to put her game together and make the right choices at the right times,” said Mauresmo. “It’s not always easy, sometimes it takes time, but she definitely has great potential.”
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