Sloane Stephens advanced to the French Open qualifying final round after defeating Lisa Pigato. But Bianca Andreescu and Karolina Pliskova both lost in the second round Wednesday, along with other former French Open semifinalists.
Sloane Stephens walked into the second round with a clear mission: keep moving toward a spot in this year’s French Open main draw. By the time the match ended, the former US Open champion and Roland-Garros runner-up had done exactly that, sweeping past 29th-seeded Lisa Pigato 6-4, 6-1.
Stephens will now face Spain’s Leyre Romero Gormaz for one of the 16 qualifying berths.
The day carried a harsher rhythm elsewhere. Two former US Open champions and former top players did not survive the second round.
Karolina Pliskova, seeded No. 20 and coming off a strong clay-court season, was defeated 6-3, 6-2 by Marina Bassols Ribera. Bianca Andreescu, seeded No. 25, fell to Viktoria Hruncakova 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 in 2 hours, 39 minutes.
The exits didn’t stop there. Former French Open semifinalists also fell on Wednesday. No. 22 seed Tamara Zidansek was beaten 6-3, 6-4 by Anna-Lena Friedsam, while Italy’s Martina Trevisan dropped a 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-1 match to ninth-seeded Mayar Sherif in a 3-hour, 29-minute contest.
This second round in qualifying became a split-screen of momentum and interruption: Stephens kept her path alive, but several recognizable names—plenty of them with major tournament pedigrees—were left looking at the main draw from the outside.
Other Second Round Qualifying Results (2) Sinja Kraus def. Noma Noha Akugue 6-7, 6-0, 7-5 (3) Ashlyn Krueger def. Luisina Giovannini 6-4, 6-3 (5) Lulu Sun def. Aoi Ito 6-3, 6-3 Katarina Zavatska def. (7) Darja Semenistaja 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 (8) Maja Chwalinska def. Carole Moneet 6-0, 6-1 Susan Bandecchi def. (12) Dominika Salkova 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 (13) Rebecca Sramkova vs. Francisca Jorge 6-3, 6-4 (14) Aliaksandra Sasnovich def. Oceane Dodin 6-1, 6-0 (15) Alina
Korneeva def. Jazmin Ortenzi 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 (16) Polina Kudermetova def. Viktoriya Tomova 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 (17) Suzan Lamens def. Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 (21) Himeno Sakatsume def. Kathinka Von Deichmann 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 Maria Lourdes Carle def. (24) Maria Timofeeva 2-6, 6-0, 6-4 Claire Liu def. (26) Katarzyna Kawa 6-3, 6-0 (27) Kaitlin Quevedo def. Teodora Kostovic 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 (30) Xiyu Wang def. Storm Hunter 6-2, 7-5 Greet Minnen def. (32) Lola
Radivojevic 6-1, 6-2 Sofia Costoulas def. Mai Hontama 6-4, 6-3 Elena Pridankina def. Julia Avdeeva 7-5, 6-1 Leyre Romero Gormaz def. Harriet Dart 6-1, 6-4 Lucia Bronzetti def. Lucrezia Stefanini 6-4, 6-1 Hanyu Guo vs. Despina Papamichail 6-2, 7-6 Guiomar Maristany Zuleta De Reales def. (11) Kaja Juvan 6-4, 6-4 Julia Riera def. Robin Montgomery 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 Mary Stoiana def. Matilde Jorge 6-4, 6-4 Linda Fruhvirtova def.Jessika Ponchet 6-1, 6-4 Harmony Tan def. Xinyu
Gao 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
French Open qualifying Sloane Stephens Lisa Pigato Leyre Romero Gormaz Bianca Andreescu Karolina Pliskova Marina Bassols Ribera Viktoria Hruncakova Tamara Zidansek Anna-Lena Friedsam Mayar Sherif Martina Trevisan