Cornet reaches last eight sparking wild celebrations

By Julien Pretot PARIS (Reuters) - The pressure is so high on French women at Roland Garros that a third-round win can be celebrated like a final victory, as Alize Cornet demonstrated wildly on Friday. The 29th seed lay on her back on the red clay, unleashed a scream and burst into tears after her 4-6 6-3 7-5 defeat of unseeded Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. For the first time in her 11 years as an entrant on the Parisian clay, she was through to play for a quarter-final spot. "I feel the pressure of Roland Garros and the pressure of the tournament and the fact that I want to do good," she told a news conference. "But being on centre court is actually much better for me because I love being out there. "I always have good vibes on this court. I cannot explain it. I don't feel any pressure to play on this court in particular. "There is a kind of magic on this court and I feel it in all my matches so I hope my next one will be on this court again." Cornet faces 19th seed Elina Svitolina, the Ukrainian number one, in the fourth round. Asked about her celebration after a somewhat routine win, the Frenchwoman explained she felt great relief following a tight tussle with the hard-hitting Ljucic-Baroni, who beat last year's runner-up Simona Halep of Romania in the previous round. "I don't think about it when I win a match. Sometimes I would jump, sometimes I would yell," she said. "This is not something I think about beforehand. But after this two-and-a-half-hour fight, I felt so relieved that I fell on the ground. A bit like Rafa (Nadal)..." Compatriot Kristina Mladenovic will try to join her in the fourth round when she meets Belgium's Alison van Uytvanck. Should she succeed, it would be the first time two French women have reached the fourth round since 2009. The last home favourite to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup was Mary Pierce in 2000. (Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Tim Collings)