On your knees, eyes blurred with emotion. Seems not to believe it. Alizé Cornet made us start the week with a big croaking this morning. We had never seen her more serene on a tennis court than at the start of the year 2022. As if the shadow of the end of her career gave her wings. As if the weight of the pressure was less heavy approaching the end point.
The French celebrated her 32nd birthday on Saturday. She is playing with this Australian Open her 60th Grand Slam tournament in a row, two units from the absolute record that she intends to beat this year. An impressive regularity for this relentless work. All that was missing was that little extra that she just won this morning: a place in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam. The roller coaster, this thrill that makes you familiar with the great players of this world. This Monday morning, she overcame Simona Halep, former world No. 1.
Forceps Victory
Not everything was easy in this game. Otherwise it wouldn’t really be Alizé Cornet. The Frenchwoman had the match in hand, before doubting, letting the second set slip away to finally win in three sets. A marathon as she adores them. And the victory of a liberated player. Alizé Cornet wrote it in her autobiography released a few months ago: her perfectionism, her desire to do well has often ruined her life. Writing acted as therapy for her. And today, when everyone asks her if it’s her last season, she smiles, she says she doesn’t forbid herself anything.
And that’s what I want to remember today: the player now manages to refrain from anything. Neither to reach the heights, nor to finally be indulgent with herself. And she gets the best result of her career when she’s been on the circuit for 17 years.
Alizé Cornet, finally fulfilled on the court
We discovered Alizé Cornet when she was only 15 years old. It was at Roland Garros in 2005. She was the youngest player in the running, and she had passed a round before finding herself face to face with her idol, Amélie Mauresmo, whose posters she collected above her bed. The story was beautiful, and the girl found herself directly in the spotlight. Not always easy to live with.
Since then, she has made her way. But she had never made it to the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam. Yes, you can reach the peak of a career even when you reach the end. We can swap precocity records for records of longevity, consistency, and add the little icing on the cake when you have just celebrated your 32nd birthday. Alizé Cornet is now a player, a fulfilled woman. She is interested in the world around her, she defends Peng Shuai, finds a nice word for Djokovic. And accept that you don’t always do everything perfectly. The victory of maturity, in short.