On Her 63rd Attempt Alize Cornet Finally Reaches A Major Quarter-Final At The Australian Open - UBITENNIS
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On Her 63rd Attempt Alize Cornet Finally Reaches A Major Quarter-Final At The Australian Open

13 years after she narrowingly missed out on a spot in the last eight, Cornet has finally broken new territory at Melbourne Park.

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2 years ago

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Image via https://twitter.com/WTA/

They say good things come to those who wait and this was the case for Alize Cornet at the Australian Open on Monday.

 

The French 32-year-old veteran made her Melbourne Park debut 16 years ago during a time when Lindsay Davenport was ranked No.1 in the world. Over the coming years Cornet would become a regular fixture in Grand Slam tennis but never made a significant breakthrough despite being ranked as high as 11th in the world over a decade ago. Nevertheless, she didn’t gave up and now she is experiencing her best-ever run at a major event.

In her 63rd Grand Slam main draw, Cornet has sealed a place in the quarter-finals at the Australian Open after ousting Simona Halep 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, in a marathon encounter that lasted two-and-a-half hours. The victory was by no means a straightforward encounter for the world No.61 who dropped her serve six times during the match. However, it would be a single break in her favor during the decider which helped her score what was a highly emotional win.

“We were both fighters on the court out there, and really giving everything we had, leaving it all on the court,” said Cornet.
“It was such a drama because I was one set, one break up and I don’t know how many games I lost in a row. I finally came back in the third.’
“I was so tired I couldn’t think anymore, which was a good thing I think at the end because it just made me keep playing, keep trying and at the end I made my first quarterfinals.”

The breakthrough has been long overdue for Cornet, who was on the verge of booking her place in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open 13 years ago in 2009. On that occasion she had two match points against third seed Dinara Safina but failed to convert and ended up losing. If she had won, she would have played Jelena Dokic, who coincidentally interviewed Cornet following her win over Halep.

“I wanted to play against you so bad! I was so disappointed,” she said to Dokic during what was a heart-warming interview.
“I loved your game and I was so excited about playing a quarter-final against you and I couldn’t and it was really painful.”

Some may wonder why it has taken Cornet so long to achieve one of her career goals. She has scored a total of 23 wins over top 10 players with the most recent of those being against Garbine Muguruza last week. She is contesting her 60th consecutive Grand Slam main draw which is the third longest streak in the history of women’s tennis.

“After 16 years on the tour, I never give up. Today I realized this goal that was very important to me for a while,” she said.
“I don’t know what happened in the past, and really, honestly, right now I don’t care.”

Should Cornet play the three remaining Grand Slams this season she would overtake Ai Sugiyama’s record of 62 straight appearances. In a recent interview with The New York Times she hinted that this could be the perfect way for her to end her career. She also told reporters that this season is ‘probably‘ her last.

However, given her win over Halep in Melbourne could there be a change of heart over the coming months?

“I told myself that this could be my last season. I don’t know if it’s helping (my game), I don’t know if it’s just the work that is paying out. When I’m on the court I feel good. I feel good outside the court and I feel good on the court,” she stated.

Becoming the first Frenchwoman to reach an Australian Open quarter-final in more than a decade, Cornet will next play Danielle Collins.

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Ludmila Samsonova beats Tatjana Maria to reach the second round in Tokyo

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15 hours ago

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25/09/2023

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Number 7 seed Liudmila Samsonova cruised past former Wimbledon semifinalist Tatjana Maria 6- 0 6-2 in just 62 minutes to reach the second round at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. Samsonova has extended her lead to 2-0 in her head-to-head matches against Maria. 

 

Samsonova has now all six matches and all 12 sets she has played in Tokyo, where she claimed the fourth title of her career on her debut at this tournament last year. 

Samsonova dropped just three points on her serve and broke three times to take a bagel win in the 25-minute first set. Maria won her first game  of the match before missing two break point chances. Samsonova broke twice in the third and fifth games and held on her serve to close out the second set 6-2. 

This year’s Rome finalist Anhelina Kalinina cruised past Ashlyn Krueger 6-3 6-1. Kalinina ended Krueger’s five match winning streak. Krueger recently won her first WTA title in Osaka.

Kalinina set up a match against Caroline Garcia, who reached the semifinals in Guadalajara. 

Cristina Bucsa cruised past Japanese Rina Raigo 6-1 6-2 with three breaks in the first set and two breaks in the second set. Bucsa will take on number 2 seed Jessica Pegula. 

Japanese qualifier Mai Hontama beat her compatriot Nao Hibino 6-2 6-4 setting up number 1 seed and four-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek. Elena Rybakina, 2021 Wimbledon champion, withdrew from the tournament due to illness and has been replaced by Japanese lucky loser Himeno Sakatsume.

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Alexander Zverev beats Grigor Dimitrov to reach the final at the Chengdu Open

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16 hours ago

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25/09/2023

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Alexander Zverev saved all five break points he faced in his 6-3 7-6 (7-2) win over Grigor Dimitrov to reach the final at the Chengdu Open. 

 

Zverev hit 10 aces and four aces in the first set. The German player earned two breaks in the first and ninth games to win the opening set 6-3. 

Zverev saved three break points in the third game of the second set to hold serve at deuce. Both players went on serve in the next games en route to the tie-break. Zverev earned two mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-2. 

Zverev improved to 7-1 in his head-to-head matches against Dimitrov. The German player will play the 32nd ATP Tour final of his career and his 21st hardcourt championships match. He is aiming to win his 21st title. He won his only ATP 500 title of the season in his native city Hamburg.  

Earlier this week Zverev beat Pavel Kotov and Miomir Kecmanovic in three sets in his first two matches. 

“For sure it was the best match I have played in Chengdu. Even though I think yesterday’s match was a very high level and Kecmanovic was playing extremely well. I am very happy to be in the final, that’s what I came for and hopefully it’s going to be another high-level match tomorrow”, said Zverev.

 The German player has a record of 45 to 21 this season and is currently seventh in the ATP Race to Turin. 

Zverev will face Roman Safiulin, who beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-3 6-3 to reach his first ATP Tour final. 

The first set went on serve until the sixth game when Safiulin was not able to convert a break point. The Russian player broke serve in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead and held his final service game to seal the first set 6-3. 

Musetti fended off a break point in the fifth game of the second set. Safiulin broke serve in a very long eighth game as Musetti hit backhand into the net. 

Safiulin emerged last year at the start of the season and climbed into the top 100 of the ATP Rankings for the first time in his career. He reached his first quarter final at Grand Slam level at Wimbledon last July. 

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Karen Khachanov beats Sebastian Korda in Zhuhai to reach his first final of the season

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19 hours ago

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25/09/2023

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Karen Khachanov beat Sebastian Korda 7-5 6-4 in 1 hour and 47 minutes to advance to his first final of the season in Zhuhai. 

 

Khachanov broke in the fifth game at deuce of the opening set to take a 3-2 lead. Korda broke back in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Khachanov earned the crucial break at 5-5 as Korda could not find the net with a drop shot. 

Khachanov went up a 3-0 lead with a double break in the second set. Korda pulled one break back in the sixth game for 2-4. Khachanov won his final two service games to close out the second set 6-4. 

Khachanov improved to 3-2 in his five head-to-head matches against Korda. 

Khachanov was playing just his fourth match since his quarter final at Roland Garros, where he suffered a back injury in his back. He lost in the first round at the US Open, but he won three matches against Alex Bolt, Mackenzie McDonald and Korda. 

Khachanov is chasing his first title since 2018 and the fifth trophy of his career. He won a title on Chinese soil in Chengdu in 2016.  

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