Lyon Open: Sofia Kenin saves match point to reach QF; Mladenovic ousted

Second seed Kristina Mladenovic was upset in the second round of the Lyon Open on Friday. Anna-Lena Friedsam won in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 in 72 minutes to reach the quarter-finals in the French city.

After her win, Friedsam said, “It was a very good match for me today. I knew I had to play good against her because she's a great champion, and it's also not easy to play in France against a French player - but the crowd was really fair, and I really enjoyed it.”

The German will play eighth seed Viktoria Kuzmova next, in the quarter-finals. Kuzmova defeated Tereza Martincova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in two hours and 10 minutes in their second-round match.

Top-seed Sofia Kenin will face Oceane Dodin the quarter-finals at the top of the draw. In her second-round match against Romanian Jaqueline Cristian, Kenin battled from a set and a break down, and even had to save a match point to clinch a 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-4 win in two hours and 31 minutes.

Kenin, who previously used to play doubles with Cristian, spoke highly of her post-match. She said, “She was playing with no pressure. She qualified, so I knew she would come out playing some really good tennis. Obviously, I didn't feel my game that well – I was pretty frustrated the whole match, I couldn't find my rhythm, but I just tried to fight through. I got the win – it's a relief and I'm happy.”

Seventh seed Daria Kasatkina was the final winner of the day. The Russian advanced to the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Irina Bara in 65 minutes. She will play Camila Giorgi in the last-eight.

Photo Credit: Lyon Open Website

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