Mboko, Juvan, Starodubtseva surge into final Roland Garros qualifying round

Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko is just one win away from her first Grand Slam main draw after an emphatic 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Kathinka Von Deichmann in the second round of Roland Garros qualifying.

Mboko, 18, is coming off a second-round run as a qualifier in Rome -- where she stretched Coco Gauff to three sets -- and her first WTA 125 final in Parma. She has brought that form to her first major qualifying event, where she has yet to lose a set. No. 122-ranked Mboko fired 38 winners against Von Deichmann, and converted six of her seven break point opportunities, dealing with the Liechtensteiner's variety and one-handed backhand with aplomb. Her season record is now 39-5.

Mboko will next face former No. 58 Kaja Juvan, whose comeback continued to gain momentum with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 defeat of No. 20 seed Maja Chwalinska. Juvan was sidelined for 12 months in 2024, only returning to action this January, and reached the Saint-Malo WTA 125 final a month ago.

In a contest marked by guile and craft, the Slovenian's greater aggression paid off as she struck 46 winners to Chwalinska's 20, running away with the third set to win in 2 hours and 14 minutes. Mboko and Juvan have not played each other previously.

Other notable Day 3 second-round results

• After heavy rain halted Day 2's action in the early afternoon, Day 3 began with 20 second-round matches out of 32 still to be completed. Early play saw Mboko swiftly joined by a pair of rising 20-year-olds. No. 9 seed Solana Sierra, who won her first WTA 125 title in Antalya two months ago, dismissed Daria Snigur 6-2, 6-2 in 52 minutes. The Argentinian's season record is now 26-9.
• Poland's Linda Klimovicova followed with a 6-2, 6-3 upset of No. 5 seed Mananchaya Sawangkaew to reach the final round of Grand Slam qualifying for the first time.
• In 2024, No. 1 seed Yuliia Starodubtseva became the first player in the Open Era to successfully qualify for all four majors in a calendar year. The Ukrainian -- who had direct entry to the Australian Open this year -- extended her winning streak in Grand Slam qualifying to 14 matches after defeated 2021 semifinalist Tamara Zidansek 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
• Justina Mikulskyte became the first Lithuanian in the Open Era to reach the final round of Grand Slam qualifying with a 7-6(3), 6-2 win over Anouk Koevermans, and the 29-year-old will next bid to become the first player from her country to make a Grand Slam main draw. The last Lithuanian to compete in a WTA main draw was Lina Stanciute at Stockholm 2007.
• Mikulskyte's opponent in the final qualifying round will be No. 18 seed Maria Lourdes Carle, who overcame Bogota finalist Katarzyna Kawa 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
• Anna-Lena Friedsam came through a wild seesaw encounter to defeat 2012 finalist Sara Errani 1-6, 6-0, 7-6[7] in 2 hours and 23 minutes. After splitting one-sided sets, Errani took a 2-0 third-set lead and held a match point at 5-4. However, a riveting dénouement that featured underarm serves, crowd-pleasing gets and drop shots galore saw Friedsam reel in the Italian.
• Chinese Taipei's Joanna Garland has risen from No. 551 in November to her current career high of No. 177 after winning nine ITF titles in the past eight months. The 23-year-old made it into the final round of qualifying at a major for the first time by defeating former junior No. 1 Petra Marcinko 6-3, 6-4.
• Last year's junior champion Tereza Valentova took out the in-form No. 2 seed Dalma Galfi, a two-time WTA 125 champion over the past two months, 6-4, 6-1. The Czech 18-year-old struck 26 winners en route to improving her season record to 22-6.

Five players make it into the main draw

Though most of Day 3's action was taken up by held-over second-round matches, five third-round matches were also played.

• Former No. 81 Nina Stojanovic returned to the main draw of a major for the first time since the 2021 US Open after edging No. 16 seed Varvara Lepchenko 4-6, 6-1, 7-5. The Serbian was sidelined due to injury for most of 2022, the whole of 2023 and the first five months of 2024.
• Nao Hibino pulled off the remarkable feat of saving match points in consecutive rounds, fending off two to overcome No. 12 seed Ella Seidel 2-6, 7-5, 6-4. The former No. 56 also saved one against Bianca Andreescu in the second round.
• Tamara Korpatsch, the Trnava ITF W75 champion last week, extended her winning streak to seven matches with a 6-2, 7-6(2) win over No. 10 seed Rebeka Masarova.
• Oksana Selekhmeteva, the 2021 girls' doubles champion alongside Alexandra Eala, qualified for the main draw for a second time by edging Lola Radivojevic 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
• French wild card Carole Monnet sent fans home on a high after winning the day's last match, defeating Kristina Dmitruk 6-4, 6-4.