PARIS, France - A dramatic final day of qualifying at the French Open ended with a total of 14 women - 12 qualifiers and two lucky losers - booking their spots in the main draw in Paris.
Five players won dramatic final-round qualifying matches in three sets, including top seed Bernarda Pera and No.9 seed Anna Blinkova.
Pera was two points from defeat in the final set against reigning Youth Olympic gold medalist Kaja Juvan, but recovered to defeat the Slovenian in a dominant third-set tiebreak. 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(1), while Blinkova won six of the last seven games of her match to defeat Israel's Julia Glushko, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4, from a 0-3 deficit in the third set.
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A pair of former junior Grand Slam champions were among the winners as well, as 2015 junior Wimbledon winner Sofya Zhuk outlasted Belgian Greet Minnen, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, while 2007 junior US Open champion Kristina Kucova will contest her first Grand Slam main draw since last year's French Open after beating Great Britain's Katie Swan in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5.
2013 junior French Open runner-up Antonia Lottner, who lost that final to good friend and current No.15 seed Belinda Bencic, will also feature in her first Roland Garros women's main draw, after she beat Spain's Georgina Garcia Perez, 6-3, 6-4.
Rounding out the victors are four of eight Grand Slam main draw debutants, headlined by Italian veteran Giulia Gatto-Monticone, who will feature among the 128 women in a major field for the first time at age 31.
Gatto-Monticone edged Ukrainian teenager Katarina Zavatska, 13 years her junior at age 18, from a set down, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 to book her place amongst the elite.
Joining her there will be compatriot Jasmine Paolini, Russian Liudmila Samsonova, and Spain's Aliona Bolsova Zadoinov, while Kurumi Nara and former Top 30 player Varvara Lepchenko round out the group of qualifiers overall.
Czech Marie Bouzkova and Hungary's Timea Babos, who were defeated by Samsonova and Bolsova Zadoinov, respectively, earned spots in the main draw as lucky losers thanks to the withdrawals of Camila Giorgi and Katie Boulter.
