Stephens advances to French Open qualifying final round; Andreescu, Pliskova fall

Former US Open champion and Roland-Garros runner-up Sloane Stephens moved one step closer to securing a spot in this year’s French Open main draw, but two other notable names - former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu and former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova - both fell in the second round Wednesday.

Stephens defeated 29th-seeded Lisa Pigato 6-4, 6-1 and will face Spain’s Leyre Romero Gormaz for one of the 16 qualifying berths in the main draw.

Pliskova, seeded No. 20 and coming off a strong clay-court season, was defeated 6-3, 6-2 by Marina Bassols Ribera, while No. 25 seed Andreescu fell to Viktoria Hruncakova 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 in 2 hours, 39 minutes.

Two former French Open semifinalists also lost Wednesday. No. 22 seed Tamara Zidansek was defeated 6-3, 6-4 by Anna-Lena Friedsam, while Italy's Martina Trevisan fell to ninth-seeded Mayar Sherif 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-1 in a 3-hour, 29-minute contest.

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