AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 26, 2022

Alize Cornet

Press Conference

D. COLLINS/A. Cornet

7-5, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Talk to us about your experience on court today.

ALIZE CORNET: Well, definitely not the best experience I had in this tournament. I didn't feel like I was, yeah, playing -- I don't know how to explain. Didn't feel like I was enjoying the moment that much as I could have done.

For sure Danielle didn't help me. The way she plays, she's super, super aggressive and playing really fast. I couldn't be really in the match anytime except maybe from 5-2 to 5-All. The rest of the time I was just struggling, just suffering the way she was playing.

Yeah, it was not the best time of my life on Rod Laver, for sure (smiling).

Q. You waited a long time for a first quarterfinal. How much was that occasion what made it difficult out there today?

ALIZE CORNET: Yeah, definitely I think I lost some energy after this match against Halep. Emotionally it was a lot to handle. I'm not going to lie.

But I felt pretty ready for this match today. Physically I recovered well. Mentally I was ready for another fight. I think the way Danielle was playing just didn't help me at all. I couldn't get into the rhythm. She was playing super fast on my forehand which I was not comfortable at all with.

At the end, yeah, maybe I had a little lack of energy. Today I should have been, like, 150% to beat Danielle. Yeah, it was just not enough energy, not enough legs action.

I have this little regret, but even though I gave everything, I gave everything I had on the court today which was less than the previous day, but that's what I had.

Q. You described her before the match as being like a lion. What was it like being across the net from her?

ALIZE CORNET: Well, she's very powerful, even more than what I expected. Her ball is going really fast in the air and she takes the ball super early.

All the time you feel really oppressed. I felt out of breath all the time. I couldn't, like, place my game. She just never let me do it, never gave me the time to do it. Yeah, she's impressive.

But today she was pretty quiet. She didn't scream that much. When I see her playing on TV, sometimes she's yelling, C'mon. She looks like a lion. Today I don't think I gave her enough battle so she could express herself.

Q. Kaia has made six quarterfinals before and waiting to get her first semifinal.

ALIZE CORNET: Six quarterfinals? Pretty solid.

Q. What does it feel like, trying to get close?

ALIZE CORNET: I don't know. I mean, I guess that she kept trying, too. I mean, she's 35. It's crazy. I just saw that she's leading right now on the court so she might do it today. That would be another beautiful story to tell. Even at 35 she's still playing the best tennis of her career and she could achieve some higher goals. I think that's crazy.

That gives me hope also for the future. As I say on the court, never too late to try again. Today was my first quarterfinal experience. As I said, not the best one. It will give me more experience for the future if I have to face this situation again, which I hope, maybe to qualify for my first semifinal.

Right now it's all about the disappointment about the match. I think after a couple of days I will realize that this tournament was a really good one. Maybe even before the couple of days.

Q. Can you reflect on the last two weeks, what it means for you going forward.

ALIZE CORNET: The first thought that comes to my mind right now is that I have eternal respect for the Grand Slam winner because it's such a long way. My God, I have the feeling I'm playing this tournament for a year. I'm so exhausted mentally, physically. When you go all the way and win these freaking seven matches, it's just huge.

I respected the Grand Slam winner before, but now even more because I only did half of the way, a little bit more than half. It seemed to me like, oh my God, you need to be so strong on every aspect to go to the end. That was a great experience for me to learn that. Even though I'm 32, I'm still learning, apparently.

Yeah, it showed me when I reflect on this that I'm maybe tougher than what I thought, that I can beat many good players in a row even in a slam. I should just keep believing, keep working. Maybe an exciting season is ahead of me. That's what I'm telling myself now.

Q. How overwhelming was it after the fourth round? There was so much social media outpouring. Were you surprised how much this story resonated worldwide?

ALIZE CORNET: Yeah, I had a lot of message support. It was amazing to receive all this love. Not only from my family, my friends, but also from other players in the locker room, by text. It felt amazing to see that people were actually really happy for me. That was something amazing.

Of course, on the social media, I saw that my story was touching people. The thing is that maybe I didn't handle that really well. I mean, I wanted really to enjoy the moment. In the same time I spent so much time on my phone that night responding to every single person. I had like 500 texts and I responded to all of them. I think maybe I lost a little bit of energy on this that I could have, like, kept for my next match.

In the same time I don't have any regrets because this was something I was waiting for such a long time. I just wanted to take this love and enjoy it.

Yeah, maybe next time I'll handle it differently, for sure.