Times are tough for tricolor women’s tennis. Since the start of the 2022 season, no French player has participated in a final of a WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) circuit tournament, and the best ranked is beyond the top thirty places in the world rankings. In this very dull context, how can we be surprised by the elimination, on Saturday April 16, of the French team from the play-offs of the Billie Jean King Cup, the competition which succeeded the Fed Cup?
In Alghero, Sardinia, there was no need to go beyond the third singles match to end the suspense. Les Bleues lost 3-0 against Italy having won only a small set in the three matches played on the hard surface.
Cascading packages
Initially called by Captain Julien Benneteau, Caroline Garcia (69and world), who suffered from a foot, and the young Clara Burel (76and21), victim of an abdominal muscle injury, had in turn given up, in favor of Océane Dodin (94and) and Harmony Tan (107and).
The French hopes therefore rested on Alizé Cornet, the veteran of the group (32 years old), but above all the best ranked (34and). “Alizé has had the best French results since the start of the season, notably with his quarter-final at the Australian Open” in January, the very first of his career, and “has always been present in the France team”recalled Julien Benneteau when his selection was announced in mid-March.
Friday April 15, before the hasty defeat of Océane Dodin against Camila Giorgi (30and) (6-1, 6-2) in the second match of this play-off, the French number 1 was opposed to Jasmine Paolini (48and), an opponent within reach on paper. Despite two match points in her favour, Alizé Cornet ended up cracking in the deciding game of the final set (2-6, 6-1, 7-6 [2]).
“There was room in this gameregretted the Niçoise at the end of the meeting. She was tired, but I think I was in better shape than her. I was limited by my nervousness. It’s not the first time, but it’s still disappointing. »
Led 2-0, the France team had no room for error this Saturday. Beginning the tricolor ascent was the mission for a novice in the competition: Harmony Tan, preferred to Alizé Cornet, who was embarrassed in the adductors according to the daily newspaper The Team.
A “bubble” to conclude
After winning the first two games, the French ranked beyond the 100and world place has never been able to compete with Camila Giorgi. In front of her audience, the Italian even allowed herself to conclude with a “bubble”, a set won without conceding the slightest game (6-2, 6-0), all after an hour and thirteen minutes of play.
You have to believe that the sky of Sardinia goes well with the azure blue. It is the twelfth time in twelve team confrontations – men and women alike – that an Italian selection has qualified on the neighboring island of Corsica.
Italy is the seventh nation to pocket its sesame for the final phase of the former Fed Cup, now organized over a week, this year from November 8 to 13 in a city still unknown. It joins Switzerland, outgoing finalist, Australia, qualified after the exclusion of Russia, as well as Belgium, Slovakia, Kazakhstan and Poland.
In the final phase of the Billie Jean King Cup, the twelve qualified teams will be divided into four groups of three, the winners of which will advance to the semi-finals.
France, like the other losers of the weekend, will play a play-off on November 11 and 12 to stay in the top flight. The victory of Les Bleues in the Fed Cup in 2019 now seems far away.