Three Americans In final round of FO qualifying

Three American women remain in contention to join the 14 U.S. players already in the main draw of the French Open after advancing to the final round of the qualifying tournament in Paris on Thursday.

Top-seeded Bernarda Pera, No. 19 seed Varvara Lepchenko and unseeded qualifier Allie Kiick each won their second-round matches on Day 4 in the French capital to move one victory away from a place in the 128-player main draw that begins Sunday.

Pera (pictured above) earned a 6-4, 6-4 win over Kai-Lin Zhang of China, Lepchenko made quick work of Romina Oprandi of Switzerland, 6-1, 6-1, and Kiick won a battle of two Americans, rallying to beat the 11th-seeded  former  junior No. 1 Whitney Osuigwe, 0-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Pera will now play Kaja Juvan, who defeated reigning French Open girls’ champion Coco Gauff, while Lepchenko will meet 22-year-old Valentini Grammatikopoulou of Greece.

Currently ranked No. 83, 24-year-old Pera, reached the second round of the French Open in 2018 in her Paris debut just four months after reaching the Round of 32 in Melbourne in her first Slam main draw. But she was ranked No. 110 at the entry deadline, meaning she had to play her way through qualifying if she wanted to earn her place in the main draw.

For Lepchenko, she is now one win away from an 11th consecutive French Open main-draw spot. She reached the fourth round in Paris in 2012, tied for her best showing at a major, and she has played at the French Open more than any other Slam.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native Kiick, ranked No. 151 in the world, will play Italian 23-year-old Jasmine Paolini. Kiick is looking to make the main draw in Paris for the first time. She made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at the 2017 US Open after coming through three rounds of qualifying.

The draw for the French Open took place on Thursday afternoon in Paris. The qualifiers will be placed into the draw on Saturday ahead of first-round play on Sunday.

In the men's draw, Tennys Sandgren will play for a spot in the men’s main draw Friday against Mathias Bourgue of France.