Katowice Open: Francesca Schiavone upsets Alize Cornet

Alize Cornet exited the Katowice Open in the second round with a straight-sets defeat to Francesca Schiavone on Thursday.

Fourth seed Cornet required three sets and almost two and a half hours to see off qualifier Isabella Shinikova in the first round, and Schiavone proved too much for her two days later.

The Italian – ranked 56 places below her opponent as world number 101 – worked hard to win a first-set tie-break from 4-2 down, powering on from there to a 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 triumph.

Having beaten Cornet for a 10th successive match, Schiavone will now meet eighth seed Dominika Cibulkova in the quarter-finals.

Timea Babos came through a scare against Viktorija Golubic to secure her place in the last eight.

The Hungarian world number 39 was forced to a third set by the Swiss qualifier – 98 places below her in the rankings– but saw out a 6-1 4-6 7-5 victory.

After dispatching second seed Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the first round, Pauline Parmentier's run continued with a 6-4 7-5 triumph over Naomi Broady.

She will meet Magda Linette in the next round after the Pole fought back from one set down to beat Stefanie Voegele 1-6 7-5 6-2.