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ROME: French qualifier Alize Cornet stormed into the final of the
Rome International on Sunday, dropping her first set of the
tournament to Russian sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze before winning,
3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The 18-year-old will face defending champion
Jelena Jankovic after the Serbian fourth seed booked her place in
the final without hitting a ball when Maria Sharapova pulled out of
their scheduled semifinal with a calf injury.
If Cornet wins, it will be a third top 10 scalp
in a single tournament for the French sensation, who romped into the
quarter-finals on Thursday by upsetting world number five Svetlana
Kuznetsova of Russia, 6-2, 6-4.
“It’s my second top 10 in two days, and why
not a third one tomorrow?” said Cornet, ranked 34th in the world.
The teenager from Nice was to have faced
sixth-ranked Serena Williams in the quarterfinal, but the American
pulled out with a back injury.
In Saturday’s semifinal, Cornet recovered from
a set down and 0-3 in the second before the tables began to turn as
the Moscovite world number eight unleashed a string of errors
including two double faults.
Cornet said she found her fighting spirit after
contemplating losing 6-3, 6-0.
“I was afraid of being ridiculous,” said
Cornet, who won the junior tournament at Roland Garros last year.
The Russian’s errors continued as Cornet,
helped by a solid serve, got back into the match, winning the second
set at 6-4 before going on to win the third 6-3.
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