A bevy of stunning French women from the WTA are still alive and well in Roland Garros, including Nice’s very own Alizé Cornet. Cornet’s next opponent is rather daunting, with one half of the Williams sisters in Venus ready to duke it out with her this Saturday.
Who amongst these two Mademoiselles will advance to the next stage of the French Open? Let’s find out more about their upcoming showdown below. And to be on top of another USA vs. France matchup that same day, check out how Serena will fare in her own bout with our preview for Williams vs. Mladenovic right after this.
Tennis News and Previews
Venus Williams vs. Alizé Cornet Betting Preview
Where: Stade Roland Garros – Paris, France
When: Saturday, May 28, 2016, 4:00 AM ET
Line: Venus Williams (-300) vs. Alizé Cornet (+220) – view all French Open Women’s Singles lines
Betting on Venus Williams
Finally, Venus Williams appears to have rediscovered her footing on clay after watching her decimate her second-round opponent at the French Open this Thursday.
With the victory, Williams finally escaped the second round of Roland Garros fort the first time since 2010. Another trip to the fourth round of the tournament has even panned out rather well for the former French Open finalist with Alizé Cornet as her next opponent on tap, as Williams has never lost to Cornet in five of their previous encounters.
It would be interesting to note, however, that Venus’ season as a whole hasn’t gone exactly as planned. After winning her first title of 2016 in Kaohsiung, she has failed to advance to any quarterfinal stage in all of her four succeeding tournaments. Not only that, but Williams won that Taiwanese tournament over World No. 42, Misaki Doi, who wasn’t even a top-10 player in the WTA to begin with.
Should Williams sustain her form and confidence from Thursday’s win, though, a Venus vs. Serena dream semifinal match is likely bound to happen to every tennis fans’ delight.
Betting on Alizé Cornet
That same Thursday, Alizé Cornet punched her ticket to the third round of the French Open by defeating Germany’s Tatjana Maria, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4.
Cornet had a much tougher outing compared to her first-round domination of Belgian Kirsten Flipkens. In that opening matchiup of the tournament, the 26-year-old righty won over 60 percent of all her attempts at first- and second-serve points, as well as winning six out of 10 break point opportunities.
We’re not saying that Cornet had an extremely lackluster effort in the second round. In fact, she put in a solid 73 percent of her first serves in play, and also retaliated well by winning 63 percent of her chances at points on second serve.
In addition, Cornet is coming off a banner 2015 (three singles titles won) and doesn’t appear to have lost much of her confidence from that campaign. The 50th-ranked Frenchwoman notched her fifth-career WTA singles title this past January in Hobart, having dispatched another rising star in Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets; 6-1, 6-2.
Not everybody is buying into Venus Williams’ resurgence just yet, and Cornet is a great test for the seven-time Grand Slam champion. Having a frenzied Roland Garros crowd behind Cornet could also liven up Cornet’s spirits, so Saturday’s match is not as lopsided at all as it appears on paper.
Writer’s Prediction
Pop the Moët and Alizé; Cornet (+220) brings the juice and pulls off the stunning upset in three close sets as the Parisian audience goes wild.
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