Alize Cornet's belated arrival at major quarter-final at Australian Open is 'great story', says John McEnroe
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Updated 25/01/2022 at 22:29 GMT
John McEnroe salutes Alize Cornet for her “great story” in reaching a maiden major quarter-final and says it is brilliant to see her go from also-ran to a genuine contender. Cornet meets American Danielle Collins in the first match on Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday. Stream the 2022 Australian Open live and on demand on discovery+.
‘Fierce competitor’ – McEnroe praises Cornet ahead of maiden major quarter-final
Alize Cornet is “better than she has ever been” and is now a serious threat at Grand Slams, according to seven-time major winner John McEnroe.
Despite appearing in 60 consecutive Slams – two off the all-time record held by Ai Sugiyama – Cornet is gearing up for her maiden major quarter-final at the Australian Open.
The Frenchwoman, who has already knocked out third seed Garbine Muguruza and former finalist Simon Halep in 2022, faces Danielle Collins on Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday.
And McEnroe has been impressed with the 32-year-old's transformation from crafty opponent to genuine contender.
“I’ve been watching her for at least a dozen years. She’s always been a fierce competitor,” McEnroe told Eurosport ahead of the remaining women’s quarter-finals in Melbourne.
“I’ve watched many a match, many an event, where it seems she’s got under the skin of her opponent because of her tenacity and her will. But it seemed like there was a gap in terms of her ability to overcome the top players and be able to do some real damage in the Grand Slam events.
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“But watching her, she seems better than she’s ever been. I’m not exactly sure why that is.
“I mean obviously she has tons of experience. She seems to feel more comfortable on the court, not as much stress as I’ve seen in the past. That’s helped her game and she’s battled.
“Look at the match with Halep, that’s a match in the past I believe she would have lost. There were numerous opportunities she could have gone the other way.
“But it’s a great story. To have to wait all that time to finally get to a Grand Slam quarter, it’s an amazing thing and I think you see the emotion of that after she won.”
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'It is never too late to try again' - Cornet gives emotional interview after beating Halep
Following the win over Halep, Cornet embraced on-court interviewer Jelena Dokic, whose presence brought back memories of one of the most painful moments of her career.
Cornet and Dokic were slated to meet at the quarter-final stage of the Australian Open back in 2009. But despite having a couple of match points, Cornet lost her fourth-round match to Dinara Safina, who would then go on to beat Dokic on her way to the final.
The poignancy of the moment was not lost on either, who embraced before Cornet went on to tell the crowd how much it would have meant to have faced off against Dokic.
“I wanted to play against you so bad. I was so disappointed,” said Cornet.
“I loved your game and I was so excited about playing the quarter-final against you and I couldn't and it was really painful. I'm still here!”
On the other side of the net on Wednesday, Cornet will come up against another strong competitor in Collins, who can draw on a run to the last four in Melbourne in 2019 and will start the match as favourite.
“I love the way she [Collins] competes, she’s an extremely fierce competitor – maybe even more so than Cornet,” added McEnroe.
“These are two young ladies that battle as hard as anyone in the women’s or men’s game.”
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