Jenny Lim was not expecting this when she entered the qualifying rounds of the WTA 125 Open GDF Suez in Limoges. The 17-year-old Frenchwoman gained 190 places in the WTA rankings this week without winning a single match and losing twice, once by the score of 6-0, 6-0.
An explanation.
In the second round of the WTA 125 tournament in Limoges, Lim faced the Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina, seeded fifth in the event and ranked 47th in the world. The chasm was too vast as Lim lost without winning a single game and she picked up only 14 of the 64 points.
Prior to that, Jenny Lim had been granted a wildcard by the organisers to take part in the qualifying rounds of the tournament for the first time at this level. With her 950th place in the WTA rankings, she could not enter the draw by herself.
In the first and only qualifying round, she lost to her compatriot, Marine Partaud, ranked 422nd in the world, 7-6, 6-3, in the Palais des Sports of Beaublanc, the legendary venue of French basketball, and was therefore eliminated from the tournament.
LIM QUALIFIED AS A LUCKY LOSER
Yes but no, because later Lim learned that she was drafted as a lucky-loser and would face the world No 121, Anna-Lena Friedsam. The German was in good form, having just lost in the final in Angers, after beating Kalinina.
But Friedsam withdrew. Another lucky-loser would have to play her. Except that the other players who had lost in the last round of the qualifiers had either entered the draw or left town, so none were available.
Lim therefore found herself in the second round in Limoges without playing at all, one round more than Alizé Cornet or Kristina Mladenovic, who were beaten in the first round.
The Frenchwoman, who made it through to the second round at the 2022 French Open, had 16 WTA points before this event. She almost doubled her total because a defeat in the second round of a WTA 125 allows her to obtain 15 points. Now in possession of 31 points, Lim will be ranked 760th in the world on Monday 20 December, a jump of 190 places.
A Christmas miracle that ends in a rout but she herself seems to take it in stride. On her Instagram story (@jenny_liiim), she reacted by writing: “I can’t take it anymore, the witchcraft has unfortunately ended 😆, back to reality mdrr”.
