Alize Cornet upsets top seed Garcia in Charleston

Alize Cornet recovered to upset No.1 seed Caroline Garcia in an all-French battle and leave the top half of the Charleston draw wide open.

Cornet trailed 4-0 in the first set before working her way back into the match, eventually winning 5-7 6-1 6-4 to take her place in the last eight.

At the concurrent WTA event in Monterrey, No.1 seed Garbine Muguruza had no such trouble, brushing aside Alison Riske to reach the quarterfinals.

“I think we both deserved to win, because it was a huge fight and Caroline plays very well,” said Cornet.

Of the four highest seeds remaining in Charleston, who has the best shot of claiming the #VolvoCarOpen title?

— Tennismash (@tennismash) April 5, 2018

“But I’m so happy. I almost never beat her before so it’s a huge win for me. I played amazing tennis, I enjoyed every minute of it.

“(From 4-0 down) I really started to hit the ball a bit more, being less passive … I really started to be more aggressive myself. And I really tried to keep doing that until the end – which is not easy with the nerves – but I made it and I’m really proud.”

The two Frenchwomen have a somewhat acrimonious history, with Garcia’s decision to make herself unavailable for the French Fed Cup team going down badly with some of her former teammates – one of whom is Cornet.

Garcia beat Cornet in their first meeting since that Fed Cup drama at Roland Garros in 2017, and the pair shared an awkward, yet charming, handshake after a draining, up-and-down battle on the green clay that lasted two hours and 16 minutes.

.@AlizeCornet stuns top seed Garcia, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4!

Into the @VolvoCarOpen quarterfinals vs. Bertens! pic.twitter.com/4zMO2whtfL

— WTA (@WTA) April 6, 2018

Cornet, playing in Charleston for the first time in seven years, will meet 12th seed Kiki Bertens in the quarterfinals.

The other quarterfinal in the top half pits No.7 seed Madison Keys – the highest-ranked player remaining in that section – against fellow American Bernarda Pera.

Meanwhile, the bottom half of the draw contains three of the tournament’s top-eight seeds, including defending champion Daria Kasatkina.

The third seed from Russia brushed aside Irina-Camelia Begu for the loss of just three games and will next face No.5 seed Julia Goerges, who ended the run of 10th seed Naomi Osaka.

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Kristina Pliskova, who backed up her defeat of Petra Kvitova with a three-set win over 16th seed Elena Vesnina to reach the quarterfinals, will now meet No.8 seed Anastasija Sevastova, who got the better of Ash Barty.

“Ashleigh is a great player, I have so much respect for her,” Sevastova said.

“I love how she plays. It was tough, the first set was up and down but it was very important to take it. The second was also pretty close, no breaks. In the last game I got a little lucky but I was fighting until the end.”

Exciting quarterfinals set in Monterrey

In Mexico, Muguruza was in imperious form against Riske, belting 24 winners and six aces while keeping her unforced errors to eight in a 6-2 6-3 win.

The victory sets up a quarterfinal meeting with Ajla Tomljanovic, who saw off Anna Blinkova in three sets.

Also reaching the last eight were Olympic champion Monica Puig – a straight-sets winner over Stefanie Voegele – and in-form American Danielle Collins, who received a walkover into the last eight when Lesia Tsurenko withdrew due to a toe injury.

No.2 seed Magdalena Rybarikova beat Jana Fett 7-5 6-2 and will next play Sachia Vickery after the American ended the run of local wildcard Ana Sofia Sanchez in straight sets.

Vickery beat Muguruza recently in what was a breakout run to the third round at Indian Wells.

No.4 seed Timea Babos and sixth seed Ana Bogdan completed the quarterfinal line-up.