WTA star reveals that she will ‘retire immediately’ after Roland Garros
Alize Cornet has announced that she will retire from professional tennis next month, with the Frenchwoman playing her final tournament at Roland Garros.
Cornet is in the 19th year of her professional career, with the now 34-year-old making her Grand Slam debut at Roland Garros in 2005.
In an interview with Canal+, Cornet confirmed that she would be retiring at her home major and revealed why now is the right time.
“I have a very special announcement to make to you. I will play my last Roland Garros in a month and I will retire immediately,” revealed Cornet. “It’s the right time because it’s the result of a long journey… I just feel like it’s time. I don’t want to be pushed out, I want to choose. And it’s the right time for me to say goodbye to tennis.”
Pour CANAL+, @RafaelNadal rend un magnifique hommage à @alizecornet après l'annonce de sa fin de carrière ???? pic.twitter.com/oeXTjKT9t9
— CANAL+ Sport (@CanalplusSport) April 27, 2024
Cornet has collated six WTA titles across her career, winning trophies in Budapest, Bad Gastein, Strasbourg, Katowice, Hobart and Gstaad, with the biggest final of her career coming at the Italian Open in 2008.
This enabled Cornet to remain inside the the top 100 between April 2012 and October 2023, with a career-high ranking of world No.11 coming in February 2009.
The now ranked No.107 is renowned for causing shocks to top players, and is the only person to beat Serena Williams three times as world No.1, including at Wimbledon in 2014.
Cornet produced another shock at the grass major in 2022, ending top seed Iga Swiatek’s record 37-match winning streak at SW19.
Congrats @iga_swiatek for being such an amazing leader. Very honored to share the court with you today ???? pic.twitter.com/sLDsu5eaxD
— Alize Cornet (@alizecornet) July 2, 2022
It is not just individual victories that have defined Cornet’s career, having also won the Hopman Cup (2014) and Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup (2019) for France.
At Grand Slam tournaments, Cornet has reached the fourth round of all the majors and made her only breakthrough to the quarter-finals at the 2022 Australian Open after beating Simona Halep.
Cornet will make her 69th consecutive and final Grand Slam appearance at Roland Garros next month, which is a WTA record, likely receiving a wildcard as she is currently eight spots away from receiving direct entry to the main draw.
Inside the baseline…
It is not a massively surprising announcement from Alize Cornet, who had previously hinted that this is likely to be her final year on tour. Cornet is known for providing entertainment, and has once described herself as a ‘drama queen for the people’, so her general presence and crafty tennis game will be missed on the WTA Tour. Hopefully she can provide some of her greatest hits in front of a packed home crowd at Roland Garros next month.
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