Alize Cornet’s 20 year career is over after the Frenchwoman lost 6-2 6-1 to Australian Open finalist Qinwen Zheng.
Cornet began her career at 15 years old where she would go on to win six career WTA singles titles as well as reaching a Grand Slam quarter-final.
The Frenchwoman also managed to beat Serena Williams during her career and reached a career-high ranking of eleven in the world.
However Cornet’s time as a tennis player is up and after the match she told journalists that she is at peace with her decision, “If we stick to the last 24 hours, I would say that I was quite peaceful. I was at peace,” Cornet explained in her press conference.
“What was difficult was to think about the match as a competitive player,
thinking that I could win, and not think about the good-bye messages to deliver afterwards.
“So I woke up this morning, and I thought, oh, well, I’m saying everything this morning. When I warmed up, I thought, okay, it might be the last time. But the momentum was that I had to stay focused in the game and not thinking it’s over already.
“Now I can say it’s over. I did my best on the court. This player is very aggressive. She’s a very tough opponent. It’s hard to win against her. I tried to do my best, and then with the emotion, I think I actually performed quite well in the end.”
It was a courageous performance from Cornet as she said goodbye to a sport she has been part of for two decades.
This hasn’t been a decision that Cornet has taken suddenly as she revealed after the match that she has thought about this decision since January, “No, I have been thinking about the new chapter in my life long ago already,” Cornet revealed.
“For several months, since January, I’ve been preparing progressively to say good-bye to everyone. So I think I have been self-motivating about it. I realized the situation. I’m at peace with everything, the message that I conveyed.
“The moment that I lived on court is memorable and the video that they prepared for me moved me so much. The fact that I could speak at length on court to everyone was such a wonderful opportunity. It’s great to finish on a high note, speaking to the fans and to my friends and relatives in the stands.
“Maybe it will be difficult in the weeks to come, but my feeling is that I have
done my duty, I went till the end of the adventure, and that was important
for me. We’ll talk about it sometime later to see if I’m still at peace, but for the moment, I’m fine.”
Finally Cornet revealed a piece of advice she would give to people being a tennis player as she now prepares to become an author, “So I would just say stay as you are and be yourself. Don’t fight to be perfect, because you will never be perfect, and you will waste a lot of energy doing so,” Cornet stated when asked what she would say to the 15 year-old version of her.
“Be genuine. Be loyal and truthful, and people will accept you as you are or
not. At 15 years old, the teenager that I was already knew what she had to
do as far as tennis was concerned but it’s another thing to accept one’s self
as we are as a person.
“Now it’s a new chapter in my life. I’m reaching new horizons. So it’s true that I’m writing. As an author, I have a backup plan ahead of me, but the lifestyle will change completely.
“That frightens me, because I have been working as a tennis player for 20 years. I need to find purpose again in my life. I need to plan ahead, to see
and understand what I’m going to become. Again, I know that I can work on
myself. I can work out a new state of mind.
“I am a resourceful person. I know that I will find new projects where I can blossom again. It might not be tennis. It will certainly not be the same emotions that I’ve had so far, but I know that I can be happy again somewhere else.”
