Perseverance rewarded. After years of skimming the circuit to the point of beating the record for consecutive appearances at a Grand Slam for girls (63, current series), Alizé Cornet qualified for the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first times of his long career.
The bad memory of 2009 finally exorcised
The French, on a cloud since the start of the fortnight in Australia, got away with it after a hard fight against the former world number 1, Simona Halep, in overwhelming heat (6-4, 3-6, 6-4). After having let slip a substantial lead in the 2nd set (ball 4-1), and again missing two match points on the service of the Romanian at 5-3 in the last set, we nevertheless believed that the 61st player world was going to relive the terrible experience of 2009 when, any young hope of the circuit, she lost to Dinara Safina in the same circumstances.
Damn dust in the eye… 🥲
The emotion of Alizé Cornet 🇫🇷, who will discover the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam at 32 #AusOpen #HomeOfTennis pic.twitter.com/FTQgurZog7
— Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) January 24, 2022
But fortunately, Alizé Cornet has finally been paid for her regularity, her efforts, her benevolence for more than 15 years now. Like all followers of French tennis, she was very moved at the microphone of Eurosport:
“I don’t realize at all, there, for the moment. At the end, I cried with relief because it was an ordeal in this heat. I had my little demons from the past that went through my head, I had two match points in 2009, but there is nothing for nothing in tennis, you must never let go. On my last service game, I just said to myself “Fight, do what you can, have no regrets”. It will take me a few hours to complete. I wanted to thank everyone for this support, this love that I receive from France. I hope the adventure is not over”.
She’s not, no, and why not dream of even better, since the Danielle Collins obstacle is not insurmountable on paper when you’re playing levitation like Cornet right now. See you on Tuesday or Wednesday night.