The French Alizé Cornet celebrated her 32nd birthday on Saturday in Melbourne with a qualification for the round of 16 of the Australian Open. The tricolor player, 61st in the world, qualified at the end of her strength by turning around a compromised situation to beat the Slovenian Tamara Zidansek (29th) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
“It was survival! I didn’t miss the Melbourne heat,” she said, beaming following her victory on her birthday.
“Happy birthday to @alizecornet teammate, reading partner, writer, tennis player and 8th runner-up at @AustralianOpen”, tweeted her compatriot Caroline Garcia, to accompany a photo of the two players with President Emmanuel Macron during a reception in 2019 at the Élysée, following winning the Fed Cup.
Alizé Cornet, a temperamental player, had created a surprise in the 2nd round by clearly dominating the Spaniard Garbine Muguruza (6-3, 6-3 temperamentally) but she had great difficulty in confirming: she was trailing 6-4, 4 -1! “You always have to believe in it, anything can always happen in tennis, explains the player on the site lequipe.fr. When I was down 4-1, 30-0 in the second set, I kept thinking regarding that. It’s a very special victory for me, playing the second week of the Australian Open, thirteen years following the first time, on my birthday as well, what more might I ask for? When I see that today I am 32 years old and that I managed to bend a 24-year-old kid, it’s my little pride of the day! »
Especially since she remained on three consecutive eliminations in the 2nd round in Melbourne, where she had reached the round of 16 in 2009. “Thirteen years following my first round of 16 at the Australian Open, I’m back! The story is beautiful, I think. To be able to reproduce this kind of results thirteen years later. I was just a teenager then, and now I’m part of the veteran clan. I think it’s a great story and I don’t want to limit myself, I don’t want to make the same mistakes as thirteen years ago. That’s what the experience is for, to have a little more perspective and to get to know each other better. »
Alizé Cornet is participating in his 60th consecutive Grand Slam tournament and has reached the round of 16 in each of the four Majors, without ever managing to climb into the quarters. For the sixth time, she will try to do so on Monday, facing the Romanian Simona Halep (15th).
