'Nonsense! Give the girl a break!' - Fans boo injured Alize Cornet for retiring hurt at French Open

Updated 28/05/2022 at 15:42 GMT

There were a few uncomfortable minutes at Roland-Garros on Saturday as France's Alize Cornet made the tough decision to retire from her third-round match against Qinwen Zheng due to an injury and was booed for it. Cornet chatted with the umpire about her options before deciding that she should not continue, but the Paris crowd did not take the call too well.

'Give the girl a break!' - Cornet gets harshly booed for retiring from match

The French Open crowd were less-than-sympathetic when France's Alize Cornet was forced to retire injured during her third-round match with Qinwen Zheng.

The 32-year-old was losing 6-0 3-0 and not looking at all likely to salvage a game as she struggled badly on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Saturday afternoon.

The French player, who had been supported superbly during her wins over Misaki Doi and former champion Jelena Ostapenko in the previous two rounds, did not receive such sympathetic backing on this occasion.

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At a changeover when 3-0 down in the second set, Cornet had an extended exchange with the umpire before deciding that she did not believe it was right to continue to play in the match.

After shaking her opponent's hand and waving to the crowd, she was roundly booed and it made for an uncomfortable watch as she had to walk off the court without receiving the support she may have been expecting.

With both thigh muscles heavily bandaged, it made for a sorry sight and she was simply unable to make a match of it. The fact that she was the last remaining French singles player left in the women's draw did not help the mood.

"She said there is no point, she is just suffering, so I am not sure how much longer this is going to go on," said Jo Durie on commentary for Eurosport.

"Come on, give the girl a break! Oh, come on, give her a cheer! No, she tried her best. You could see how hampered she was.

"She didn't want to stop now, here on this court. It is a real shame because that could have been a very good match."

Simon Reed added: "Well, the crowd are booing, but really? It is a nonsense to boo her.

"She gave them one of the times of their lives the other night. Now she is paying a price for it."

In her post-match press conference, Cornet said: "Yes, it hurt more than my injury itself. But, yes, you know, you can't generalise things. It was just a handful of people in the stadium so maybe they made a lot of noise.

"But it's really too much when you see everything I've been giving on the court for so many years. I think it would have been far easier for me not to come onto the court, not to put myself, make myself vulnerable with this injury.

"So, yeah, it's a real pain because it's unfair and when things are unfair it hurts. But once again, most of the people are no doubt sad for me and understand what's happening, but this handful of idiots really, really, really makes you feel bad."

Zheng's next match will be significantly tougher with world No. 1 and the overwhelming favourite to triumph at Roland-Garros for a second time, Iga Swiatek, her fourth-round opponent.

Swiatek produced more magic as she battled past Danka Kovinic in straight sets to reach the fourth round of the French Open.

The top seed overcame a second-set wobble to beat Kovinic 6-3 7-5 to secure her progression - and showed more of her incredible talent in the process.