Former US Open champion Sloane Stephens moved within one victory of reaching the French Open main draw after a dominant performance on Wednesday.
Stephens, who finished as the runner-up at Roland Garros back in 2018, put on a stellar performance to defeat 29th-seeded Lisa Pigato 6-4, 6-1 in their second-round qualifying match.
Organizers celebrated her smooth victory on social media with a simple note reading, “Smooth win #RolandGarros.”
However, it was completely different story for two other major stars in the tournament.
Former US Open winner Bianca Andreescu and former world No.1 Karolina Pliskova both saw their qualifying runs come to an end in Paris.
Pliskova, seeded 20th, struggled to find her rhythm and suffered a quick 6-3, 6-2 defeat against Marina Bassols Ribera.
Meanwhile, the 25th-seeded Andreescu fought hard in a grueling battle that lasted two hours and 39 minutes. Ultimately, she fell short against Viktoria Hruncakova with a tight final score of 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4.
Stephens will now face Spain’s Leyre Romero Gormaz for a highly coveted spot in the main tournament draw.
