Alize Cornet wins 500th career match, advances in Cleveland

CLEVELAND — Alize Cornet picked up her 500th victory on the WTA Tour, beating Dayana Yastremska 6-2, 6-1 in the completion of a match that was suspended by thunderstorms a day earlier.

Cornet advanced to the second round of Tennis in The Land, a U.S. Open tune-up in downtown Cleveland.

“I’ve been on tour for 15 years and played a lot of matches, so I’m proud of getting 500 wins,” said Cornet, whose record is 500-410. “I thought about it at the beginning of the season as a short-term goal, and here we are in August. It meant something to me.”

The 32-year-old from France made her tour debut in 2005 at Roland Garros and owns six singles titles, the most recent at Gstaad, Switzerland four years ago.

Cornet, ranked No. 37, held serve every game in the 1-hour, 12-minute match against Yastremska. One set was played each day.

“I’m happy to get this one under my belt, for sure,” Cornet said. “I played better today. My shots were deeper and I was more aggressive. I hope the journey here is not over and I can keep playing a lot more matches.”

Third seed Ekaterina Alexandrova rallied for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over fan favorite Lauren Davis, who grew up in nearby Gates Mills, Ohio. Second seed Martina Trevisan of Italy beat Mayar Sherif of Egypt 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion who received a wild card into the tournament, eliminated qualifier Dalayna Hewitt 6-4, 6-3. Plagued by injuries since her triumph in Melbourne, Kenin snapped an eight-match losing streak that began in January at Adelaide, Australia.

The top-ranked player in the 32-woman field, No. 18 Caroline Garcia, withdrew with a thigh injury one day after winning the Western & Southern Open title in the Cincinnati suburb of Mason.