AMERICAN qualifier, Nicole Gibbs has moved through to the second round of the Open BLS De Limoges after an impressive come-from-behind win on Day 1.

Gibbs made the main draw of the French hardcourt tournament following success navigating the qualifying stages, and was drawn against seventh seed Slovenian, Tamara Zidansek. The 26-year-old American is currently ranked 142nd in the world, with her career high of 68, but it did not stop her defeating world number 64, Zidansek. It was not the first time Gibbs had saluted against the Slovenian, getting up 6-3 7-5 at Roland Garros in 2017 in the first round of qualifying. On this occasion, it would not be so straight forward. Gibbs was forced to come back from a set down to win in three, including a nervous second set tiebreaker in a match that lasted two hours and 20 minutes.

Zidansek started the match strongly, winning 70.6 per cent of her first serves, containing Gibbs upon return, with 40 per cent of return points won. Both players had plenty of break point opportunities, but neither could capitalise regularly, as Zidansek broke twice to Gibbs’ once, but it was enough to win the first set, 6-4. The American stepped it up in the second set, going from 62.5 per cent of her first serves in, to 70.5 per cent, but remarkably her first serve percentage dropped to a lowly 48.4 per cent. She was much stronger on return, while Zidansek started to falter, recording the only three aces of the set, but also four double faults which proved costly. Neither would give an inch and it led to a tiebreaker which saw the qualifier get up 7-5 in that tiebreaker to force a third set. From there, Gibbs was in the groove as Zidansek’s serving woes continued, producing two double faults and serving at less than 60 per cent, while Gibbs kept improving with 75 per cent of her first serves in. Her return game was just as strong, and she saved her best for last, serving out the match to win 4-6 7-6 6-3.

Gibbs now moves through to the Round of 16 where she faces Jessika Ponchet. In other results, fifth seed Alize Cornet breezed through her match against Switzerland’s Stefanie Voegele 6-2 6-1, but it was better news for the rapidly improving Jil Teichmann with the Swiss 22-year-old getting the job done against German, Tamara Korpatsch 7-6 6-3. Romanian Sonia Cirstea survived a three set thriller against German, Tatjana Maria, and 23-year-old Frenchwoman Oceane Dodin took the first steps to returning to the top 50 on the WTA Tour with a straight sets win over Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer. In the last two matches of the day, Russian Liudmila Samsonova won in three sets over Italian Camila Giorgi, while Frenchwoman Ponchet won through to the next round with a straight sets victory over Ukrainian, Kateryna Kozlova.

Tomorrow, first seed, Ekaterina Alexandrova starts her title defence against Monica Niculescu, while second seed Caroline Garcia hits the court for the first time since her Fed Cup triumph in November, ironically playing against one of her teammates who also celebrated the Cup win in Pauline Parmentier. The most exciting match will likely be the battle between two up-and-coming Russians, as sixth seed Anna Blinkova hopes to improve her 61st overall ranking against 22-year-old countrywoman, Natalia Vikhlyantseva, ranked 114th in the world.