One of the later chapters in the autobiographical notebook Alizé Cornet published last year is prefaced by a quotation: “It is the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”
Mundanity is anathema at the best of times to Cornet, an ebullient, emotionally complex character who, by her own admission, has spent much of her career chasing the rainbow of perfection. And against Garbiñe Muguruza at the Australian Open, the Frenchwoman did indeed make life interesting, sealing a 6-3, 6-3 victory over the third seed just minutes after the Danish teenager Clara Tauson had bundled out Anett Kontaveit, the high-flying Estonian who Muguruza vanquished to win the WTA Finals barely two months ago.
Plus ça change, as they say in Cornet’s homeland. The women’s game remains as thrillingly unpredictable as ever.
Few players embody that sense of uncertainty quite like Cornet, a player who has struggled to realise the spectacular potential she showed as a teenager, but whose ability and staying power remain undeniable.
Now into her 17th and perhaps final year as a professional, the 31-year-old has appeared in 60 consecutive grand slam tournaments – more than any other active female player, and just two short of the women’s record held by Ai Sugiyama. On the game’s biggest stages, however, consistency of appearance has not always been matched by consistency of performance. For all the mercurial talent that propelled Cornet to the junior French Open title as a 17-year-old, and lifted her to a career-high ranking of 11th in the world two years later, it is a curious footnote to her career that she has never progressed beyond the fourth round of a major. It is a modest return for a player who is, as Muguruza will not need reminding after suffering a second successive defeat at her hands, capable of troubling anyone in the world on her day.
“It’s been a while [that] I haven’t beaten a top-five player in a slam, so it’s a really good feeling,” said Cornet, who memorably shocked top seed Serena Williams in the third round of Wimbledon in 2014. “I really enjoyed it today, which doesn’t mean I will enjoy it tomorrow! That’s why, when the fun is here, you have to take it.
“There were definitely some tough times during my career, but I think it’s the same for everybody. Like everybody, I wanted to quit tennis many times, because sometimes it’s just too painful to work and not to be rewarded for your work, to have tough losses. Sometimes you lose, for example, with match point. You go back to your hotel room and you go, ‘What’s the point of doing all that?’
“This is not an easy job. You’re on the road basically 10 months out of 12, so you never see your family, it’s really hard to have a love life. I mean, all these things around tennis make it complicated. But the love of the game has always been stronger.
“I think today the key was that, you know, I’m telling myself that I’m playing probably my last year. I’m not sure yet. When I stepped on the court, I was like, ‘You know what, just enjoy the moment, because you don’t know if you’re going to come back.’ I think that’s what made the difference.”
Cornet’s freedom of spirit was apparent from the outset as she adopted a position high on the baseline, taking the ball early and going toe-to-toe with the Spaniard. Muguruza cut a contrastingly anxious figure, her plight epitomised by a woeful start to her opening service game, in which she twice landed groundstrokes halfway up the net and sent a regulation forehand sailing beyond the baseline. Had Cornet converted more than one of the 10 break points she held in the opener, a one-break advantage might quickly have become a rout. As it was, Muguruza fought gallantly but in vain to make up ground, retaining scoreline respectability without ever suggesting she had enough on the day to avert the biggest upset of the tournament so far. Cornet will face Tamara Zidansek, the 29th seed, in the third round.
“It’s a tough day,” said Muguruza, whose preparations for the tournament were thrown into disarray after her team contracted Covid. “I didn’t feel my game at all. My serve wasn’t there. I think my shots weren’t there also. Tactically, I wasn’t making the right decisions.
“On top of that, she played very well, [a] very solid game. I think she plays better when she’s playing against top players. I’m a little bit surprised about my level – a little disappointed, too.”
Kontaveit, who unexpectedly emerged as a beacon of stability in the women’s game towards the end of last season after claiming titles in Cleveland, Ostrava, Moscow and Cluj-Napoca to break the top 10 and qualify for the WTA Finals, will know how the Spaniard feels. For all her recent exploits, a quarter-final at Melbourne Park three years ago remains the Estonian’s best showing at a major, and her hopes of improving on that record were in the balance from the moment Tauson drilled a sweetly-struck backhand winner to break in the opening game. It was the opening salvo in a barrage that would leave Kontaveit stunned.
“My weapons were obviously working very well,” said the 39th-ranked Tauson, who smoked 20 winners to Kontaveit’s 15 and made 14 fewer unforced errors.
“When you play really good, you don’t feel like you’re playing amazing, but everything is just going how you want it. In my mind, that’s just how I want to play every time. I think I played a really, really good match today. I didn’t miss a lot of shots, even though I was going for them on every single shot.”
It was, said the 19-year-old, a victory underpinned by belief, a quality she felt she lacked last year when facing Victoria Azarenka at the French Open and Ashleigh Barty at Flushing Meadows. Her coach, Olivier Jeunehomme, was determined it would not happen again.
“I had a little talk with my coach right before the match, where we talked about [how] I have to go in believing I could win,” said Tauson following the first top-10 win of her career.
“Last year, I don’t think I really believed that I could beat those players. Now, right before the match, he told me: ‘You have to believe you can win. We’ll see what the result says, but you have to believe it.’ I really did. I think that really helped me a lot.”
Tauson, who won the junior title at Melbourne Park in 2019, will now face former semi-finalist Danielle Collins, who beat her at Roland Garros a couple of years ago. “She’s a good player,” she said of the American 27th seed. “She always goes far in the good tournaments. So we’ll see. I have to play good again, so I hope I can do that.”