In a good day for Britain’s female tennis players, Katie O’Brien and Elena Baltacha have made it through to the final round of qualifying at the French Open in Paris.

23 year old O’Brien, who came through her opening match in three sets, defeated Japan’s Rika Fujiwama 7-6(3) 6-2 on Thursday. She will now face Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus. A win will see her join Anne Keothavong and Mel South in the main draw, the two Brits having gained direct entries.

“I remember in the past when I played qualies, the fact that it was a Grand Slam made it quite daunting and I’ve always been a little bit nervous,” said O’Brien, who has won two $25k titles this year in Sutton and Jersey

“But after I qualified in Australia this year, it’s given me a lot of confidence and I come into this believing that I can qualify. I think it’s probably even harder to qualify at the French, though, because it’s on clay and you have to win three tough matches.”

British number 4 Elena Baltacha beat Frenchwoman Stephanie Vongsouthi 6-1 7-5 in 1 hour 22 minutes to book her spot in the final round of qualifying. It’s the first time she has made it past the first round of qualifying in Paris - she will now face Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova.

Louise Hudson, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine

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