“How did you experience this match against Tamara Zidansek?
It was a complicated game. I didn’t start it very well, I was quite tired but I saw that Tamara too. Then I was down 6-4, 4-1, kept fighting and playing my best tennis and managed to turn the game around in the third set. It was a very hard match physically for both of us, it was really hot on the court, but I’m really happy to have managed to win on my birthday, it means a lot to me.
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You are going to play in a Grand Slam Round of 16, what does that represent in your career?
I get chills just hearing that! I don’t realize yet, but it’s a great performance that I achieved today. You always have to believe in it, anything can always happen in tennis. When I was down 4-1, 30-0 in the second set, I kept thinking about that. It’s a very special victory for me, playing the second week of the Australian Open, thirteen years after the first time, on my birthday as well, what more could I ask for?
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“His decision was tough, but it didn’t matter because after that I managed to control my emotions and get back in the set”
Alizé Cornet, about the referee, after receiving a warning in the second set
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What happened at 4-4 in the second set? You were annoyed…
I took a warning and lost my first serve. It was a really big game, 4 games across, and the previous game had just lasted almost a quarter of an hour. To take a caution at that time, it was really hard so I told the referee what was on my heart, I said to him: “you know, we have been fighting on the court for two hours , it’s really hot, we’ve just played a really long game, we have to put ourselves in our shoes a bit.” I may not have been very nice, but I told him what I thought because sometimes you have to be a little human with the players. I think his decision was tough, but that’s okay because after that I managed to control my emotions and get back in the set so I’m happy with my reaction. 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!
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13
Thirteen years passed between Alizé Cornet’s first and second round of 16 in Melbourne. In 2009, she lost in three sets against Dinara Safina (6-2, 2-6, 7-5).
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What has changed between the Alizé Cornet of 2009, beaten in the round of 16 of the Australian Open, and that of 2022?
Honestly, nothing at all, I’m the same! I still love playing tennis so much, I’m still just as passionate, I still fight as much. I just have more experience and maybe I can take a step back now because I’ve been playing for so many years, I’ve been in so many different situations… But that’s really a great feeling and I think that’s why we all continue to play and push our limits, because we love that feeling, that joy right after the match point.
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“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”
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How do you view these thirteen years?
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. (laughs.) 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.
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In 2009, Cornet (back) lost to Dinara Safina in the round of 16. (Pierre Lahalle/The Team)
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What will be the key to enjoying this year of tennis, if it were your last on the circuit?
The result will matter a lot, of course. I am so happy to be in the second week of a Grand Slam when it was not the same story when I lost in the first round in Adelaide! Since I think this may be my last year, I see all of this with the eyes of children, I want to enjoy the time on the court, share moments with players that I may not see again, I want everything around tennis to be a bit special too. Although, of course, the most important thing is to enjoy the present moment.
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Everything is working out for you at the moment, what do you like the most?
I like winning matches! I like having emotions on the court, as I was able to have them against Muguruza and today too. These are strong emotions that I share with the public, I love it, I feel like I’m really where I need to be. I try not to project into the future or the past, but to be in the present moment and simply enjoy it as much as possible.
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“Going further than the quarter in a Grand Slam, I’ve been thinking about it since I was 19, even before”
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You have never qualified for a Grand Slam quarter-final. Had it become an obsession?
Now, anyway, that doesn’t bother me at all. I’m very proud of the career I’ve had, I won’t make it an illness if I can’t play a quarterback. I was a little annoyed when I lost the round of 16 at the US Open, but that’s how it is. The further you go, the less you want to lose, because the matches are more and more painful to lose. But I live it very well, I am also very happy to be able to give myself an opportunity to try again. And then, if it doesn’t work, I’ll try again because I’ll never give up!
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Do you dream of going even further?
Of course, but it’s not a dream, it’s just an ambition that is completely plausible. A dream is something utopian, which will never happen, while going further than the quarter in a Grand Slam, I’ve been thinking about it since I was 19, even before. Obviously I want to go far in a Grand Slam, I kept this idea in mind for all these years and when I see that I still hold the road physically and that there are things that are falling into place mentally, It makes me want to try my luck again. »
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