After her most recent appearance at the French Open, Alize Cornet shocked the entire press corps by revealing that she had dreamed of Rafael Nadal asking her to play a match.
Cornet, who debuted at the French Open in 2006, played her final match in front of her home crowd on Tuesday to wrap out her professional tennis career. Due to her poor draw luck, Cornet lost 6-2, 6-1 against Zheng Qinwen, the runner-up at the Australian Open this year, and was eliminated in the first round.
Like Cornet, 37-year-old Rafael Nadal lost in the opening round of the French Open the day before, in what may have been his final encounter.
“My sleep was good. I must admit that Rafa was on my mind the entire night. “In my dream, he would propose to play a three-setter in Strasbourg with me. After the match, I would be with his family, we would triumph, and we would celebrate,” Cornet revealed.
“Oh, well, I’m saying everything this morning,” I thought to myself as I woke up this morning.
Cornet wasn’t really dissatisfied with how she performed against Zheng
Cornet had lost the first two breaks of the match, but she was able to win the fifth game when she dropped her service once again, allowing Zheng to win the first set with ease. Before Zheng won five games in a row to secure a simple two-set victory, the two players were knotted at one game apiece in the second set.
“I realized that this might be the last time when I warmed up. However, the idea was that I needed to remain in the game and not consider it to be over. I’m able to say that now. On the court, I gave it my all. This player has a lot of aggression. She is a formidable foe. It’s challenging to defeat her,” Cornet remarked.
“I gave it my all, and considering the circumstances and my feelings, I believe I did fairly well in the end.”