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ROLAND GARROS

May 31, 2015

Alize Cornet

PARIS, FRANCE

E. SVITOLINA/A. Cornet
6-2, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Obviously a good run for you here. What turned in the second set to give her that slight edge at the end?
ALIZE CORNET: It was really tight in the second set. I think it was just -- I mean, obviously one point away for me to get the second set at the end. But I was behind at the score the whole set, so it was pretty much a miracle that I could get to the tiebreak finally. And I would have loved to go in three sets just to see how it would go, and it would have been really interesting for me. But overall, I think Elina was more solid than me. She was very consistent the whole match. She didn't have a drop of level, and she really deserved this win.

Q. You obviously show a lot of emotion on court, and especially in Chatrier or Lenglen when you're the French player here, it seems to come out even more, I guess. How much do you enjoy, even when it's not going your way, the emotional connection you have with the crowd here, especially?
ALIZE CORNET: Yeah, it was really great this year. I had a really good time on the court, sharing all these good emotions and vibes with the crowd. Even when I was down 5-Love in the first set they were still behind me, trying to push me to play better. That's how I finally got into the match in the second set. Yeah, it's always great time. And I think I was really ready to take all this emotion from the crowd this year. That's why I'm now even more sad to leave the tournament, because I was enjoying every moment on the court, and it's always tough to finish these kind of good moment. But I'm really looking forward to playing next year now. We have too few tournaments in France for women, and I regret it a lot, because I actually love playing in Paris and all over France, but now we have Paris and Strasbourg left. It's not much for WTA tournament, so maybe if I can send a little message to the tournament director that I want to create a tournament in France, it would be really amazing for the French players.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. You played her before, and you won. Is it today's conditions or is it that she made progress, or didn't you feel as well as before?
ALIZE CORNET: I can't remember when I played her the first time. It must have been years ago. The second time I played her was in Bogota at an altitude of 11,000 feet. She's made great progress. She's had some very good performance this year. She's a very solid player. She's been very consistent. She fights hard. She runs. She is just good at everything she does. I felt I was playing well. But, you know, at the end of the day, what you have to do is to never go down in your performance level, you know, never give up a point. My first set was not good, and that didn't help, of course. Of course when I came back into the match, then we really fought hard in the second set. That's really what I'm going to take away. The second set was top quality. Of course, there is room for progress for me. I think I need to play better at the beginning of my matches. This is really where I need to make a difference. I need to -- I was a little slow and I really need to get faster earlier in the match.

Q. The first set you said she was really dominating, and at one point it felt like there was a real shift, because you have more experience than she has. How come you were not able to really get a momentum?
ALIZE CORNET: Well, I had a set ball, a set point, the second set. I was very close. Likewise, she was very close. You know, one point missing. Maybe, you know, I didn't make the right decision at the right time. But again, it was very, very close in the second set, and I a had 5-2 ball against me, and then I was able to catch up. So I really pushed her as far as I could. I was just quite disappointed at the end that I couldn't get that second set. I think it would have been a really interesting physical and mental battle had we gone into a third set. I was ready for it, so I'm really sorry we didn't make it to the third set.

Q. You said the beginning of your matches are a bit slow. It was the case in the previous round and the case today. Why do you think that is?
ALIZE CORNET: I don't like to make up excuses. I think the No. 1 reason for this is, you know, that I just find it difficult to get into the match. And then I think the fact there was a lot of wind also, it just didn't allow me to play, to use my legs. She was making no mistakes, and she was forcing me to play the ball. And with the wind it was very disturbing, extremely disturbing. And it was exactly the same problem two days ago. It took me one set to really get into the match and get used to that. It's very frustrating. It was frustrating two days ago, and it's frustrating again. When the wind sort of dropped in the second set, I think I felt I was getting used to it, or maybe the wind never dropped and I just played better. I don't know. But I really felt it took me forever to get into the match.

Q. You're coughing. Have you been coughing for a long time or was it just today? And in the tiebreak, you did three dropshots. Why dropshots?
ALIZE CORNET: I have had problems with my throat for about two days. Nothing bad. It just is quite disturbing when I'm out of breath, when I have been running, rallying. It can be a problem. The previous game it was not so much a problem. Today, you know, with long-fought balls and points, it was a bit more complicated. And the dropshots, I think I made the wrong decisions. I was against the wind, and I had the impression that I could -- it made sense. Maybe I went too fast. And I generally don't miss these kind of balls, as you know. Today was not a good day for it. Wrong decisions. Maybe I precipitated things a little bit, maybe because of the pressure of the match. But generally missing three in a row doesn't happen to me. Maybe I wasn't lucid enough at that particular point of the match. Don't ask me why, I can't explain.

Q. How did you manage this day? It's a difficult day. It's difficult day for everybody, including ourselves. A lot of waiting. This was a long break. It seems that it was maybe a good break.
ALIZE CORNET: Well, I think with or without a break, eventually I would have gotten into the match. I really got into the match when I was at 5-0. I'm not sure, you know, having a break or having to wait was positive for me. Of course, it allows you to think and focus, but I don't know, had there been no break it could have been better. When you restart a match and you're 4-0, it's not a very pleasant experience. You know, it's not like you go back on the court and you're very close. I went back with several points behind. So in my mind I was thinking it can't be worse, it can't be worse. So I tried to really make a positive. When I was waiting, I was with my team. Things went fast. I was with Patrick Bordier [ph], and he was trying to crack jokes, and, you know, to really lower the pressure. I have a great team, and it really was not that bad of an experience.

Q. About the video. Yesterday there was a discussion between Serena and Azarenka. And then there was this one point.
ALIZE CORNET: It was a shame. It was a shame. It's a scandal. I don't want to go into this. I don't know how much judges can be influenced. Generally I never watch after, and I did this time. It's a shame. It's shameful. I don't know how she could watch straight in my eyes and tell me the ball was out. I don't know what happened yesterday between Azarenka and Serena. I really don't know. But, you know, sometimes things happen and you're like, wow. I mean, there is enough tension as it is. We fight each point. Each point costs so much. And, you know, 5-All in the second set, it's terrible. But you have to accept it. You have to accept it. I think I lost two points because of it.

Q. Azarenka said, why not use video.
ALIZE CORNET: Well, if they can't do it, sometimes using a camera, using video, video replay technology, allows you to -- I don't know, maybe the video would have showed me that I was wrong. But I saw it. It was right there. I think sometimes it would really be worth using the video. The problem is if you use video for everything, why have umpires? Because that's your job. That's their job. That's what they are there for. But I really felt the pressure. You know, she was waiting. My opponent was waiting. And I think she knew. She knew it was good. And it was so frustrating. It was so frustrating. But, you know, that's the way it is. It's part of the game. My brother was telling me that Pauline Parmentier, the same thing happened to her with a let, and at the end of the day she lost the match because of that. You don't want to waste too much energy on this and you have to move on quickly. That's it. Being a good player is also doing that, moving on to the next thing.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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