Caroline Garcia and Alize Cornet to face off in an all-French grudge match in Roland Garros fourth round
There will be no love lost when the two home hopes square off on Monday
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Caroline Garcia and Alize Cornet will face off in an all-French grudge match in the fourth round at Roland Garros.
Garcia and Cornet joined Kristina Mladenovic to make it three French women into the last 16, and they are guaranteed at least one quarter-finalist.
But there will be no love lost when Garcia and Cornet square off on Monday - at least from Garcia's side.
Asked if they might have a coffee together before the match, Garcia said: "No, not before, and probably not after."
The bad feeling stems from France's Fed Cup play-off against Spain in April.
Having said she did not want to play in the international competition this year, Garcia was named in the team by Yannick Noah.
She pulled out injured but doubts were publicly raised about the validity of her injury and it was not until a French federation doctor confirmed she could not play that her decision was accepted.
Cornet and team-mates Mladenovic and Pauline Parmentier all sent a tweet at the same time saying “LOL”, leaving Garcia upset.
The 23-year-old said: “I received a text message but no excuses. She said she was still standing behind her tweets, so I consider that it doesn't mean anything.”
There was already tension between Garcia and Mladenovic after Garcia ended a very successful doubles partnership - they won the French Open together last year - to focus on her singles.
Mladenovic responded with an interview in which she compared Garcia's educational record unfavourably with her own and said her former partner was controlled by her father.
Reaching the fourth round of a grand slam for the first time is therefore a much-needed boost for Garcia, who battled past Hsieh Su-wei 6-4 4-6 9-7.
She said: “A lot of positive things have happened this week. More so than over the past weeks.
“It's been a long journey. I have learned a great deal of things about myself. The problem with my back allowed me to look at myself a little differently. A lot of other things happened beyond sports, as well.
“I came to the French Open with a firm commitment. The commitment is to not worry too much about the others. Instead I want to focus on myself and on my game.
“It feels great. But it's a long journey and it's not over yet.”
Cornet, who defeated Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 6-1, hopes the relationship with Garcia can be repaired.
She said: “I think that the relationship is not very good. I think she may have a grudge against us, so she's not ready to talk with me.
“But one day I hope that she will tell me, 'Let's discuss'. And I'm patient. I understand that the whole story has upset her.”
Radwanska became the fourth top-10 seed to exit the tournament but title favourite Simona Halep is still going strong.
The third seed recovered from 5-3 down in the second set to beat Daria Kasatkina 6-0 7-5.
Halep, the runner-up to Maria Sharapova in 2014, said: “It was a good match. I think I played really well the whole match.
“It's a very nice feeling to be again in the second week. I played well, and the most important thing is that I'm playing better match by match.
“It gives me confidence for the next week, and also nerves, but better nerves this time.
“I'm not feeling pressure and I'm not feeling that I'm favourite. I just have confidence that I have my chance. I have the game to play until the end.”
Caroline Wozniacki and Cici Bellis were unable to complete their match on Friday night and it was the Dane who eventually came through 6-2 2-6 6-3.
Carla Suarez Navarro also progressed with victory over Elena Vesnina but the other matches were cancelled for the day because of rain.
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