PARIS (Reuters) – Former finalist Marketa Vondrousova overcame France’s Chloe Paquet to win 6-1 6-3 and reach the last 16 of the French Open on Friday.
Vondrousova, who became the first unseeded player to win Wimbledon last year, was a beaten finalist at Roland Garros in 2019, and the Czech player kept alive her dream of a return to the final with her straight sets win.
The fifth seed began strongly, breaking to love in the opening game, and although Paquet responded immediately with a break of her own, Vondrousova went on to win the next five games to take the first set with ease.
Paquet, 29, had never reached the third round before and her struggles continued in the second set when Vondrousova took a 3-0 lead, but the French player rallied and broke to pull it back to 4-3 down.
Vondrousova responded and broke again to move within one game of victory, and although Paquet forced a break point, Vondrousova held serve and moved into the fourth round.
The Czech 24-year-old will now play Serbian qualifier Olga Danilovic, who has already knocked out 11th seed Danielle Collins.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Toby Davis)
