Alize Cornet played in her first French Open in 2005 at the age of 15. She is now about to play in her last.
Cornet said she will retire after the upcoming tournament at Roland Garros. She plays No. 7 seed Qinwen Zheng of China in Tuesday’s first round after receiving a wild card from the French Tennis Federation.
Cornet, 34, will extend her record to 69 consecutive Grand Slam appearances — better than any man or woman — before ending her career.
“I try to put the emotional side aside, and to focus on what is concrete, practice, the opening coming up,” Cornet told reporters Friday.
“It’s true that I will realize what’s happening in the days to come, and I will have a little bit of nostalgia, but that’s normal. There are ups and downs, of course, but I’m holding my own.”
Overall, Cornet will be appearing in her 72nd Grand Slam event. Her best finish was reaching the 2022 Australian Open quarterfinals. In Paris, she twice reached the fourth round (2015, 2017).
The native of Nice, France, has won six career WTA titles and over $10 million in prize money. Her highest ranking in singles was No. 11 in 2009.
In 2014, Cornet defeated top-ranked Serena Williams three times. Eight years later, she ended top-ranked Iga Swiatek’s 37-match winning streak with a third-round win at Wimbledon.
Cornet has produced a lot of interesting on-court moments but said she is ready to close the curtain on her career.
“I’m quite happy not to open up the bags and close them again and go and travel all the time,” Cornet said. “It was good to hold my own for such a long time, to stay at such a high level for nearly 20 years, but it also cost me a lot emotionally speaking, and from a psychological point of view as well.
“I’m ready to have a life that would be easier. I’m not going to say that I’m going to be a granny now, but I gave my all. I gave it my all and even more.”
–Field Level Media
