By Erik Gudris | Saturday June 25, 2022
Iga Swiatek's 37-match winning streak came to a halt on Saturday at Wimbledon, at the hands of Alize Cornet.
Photo Source: Getty
“I’m like good wine. In France, good wine always ages well. That’s what happens with me.” - Alize Cornet.
That’s what French veteran 32-year-old Alize Cornet said just after doing what no woman on the WTA Tour could do for over four months - defeat World No. 1 and top seed Iga Swiatek in their Wimbledon third round meeting.
Cornet, perhaps with some irony as she is currently ranked No. 37, proved to be the player with the winning formula to end Swiatek’s 37-match win streak, the longest since 1990, that saw her unbeaten for 135 days.
The rather straightforward 6-4, 6-2 win earned Cornet her fourth career victory over a World No. 1.
For Cornet, the win puts her into the fourth round of Wimbledon for only the second time in her career.
The Frenchwoman said belief was building since her second-round win.
"I had this belief for a few days already," Cornet said. "I kept telling myself, Well, the streak -- I was telling myself someone would have to break the streak eventually, and why not me? That's all.
"I thought that here was the best chance for me to do it. Maybe it was her less good surface. She's so good on clay court and hard court. And grass, I knew I had a little opportunity to do something. I knew I had to play a very solid match. I think that's what I did today.
"Yeah, the belief was there since the beginning. I think it's very important to have that, otherwise you stand no chance in front of this kind of player."
For Swiatek, the recent Roland Garros champion will now look to the U.S. hardcourt swing for a chance to reset her dominance over the women’s tour.
Cornet’s surprise win at Wimbledon over a World No.1 is nothing new. In 2014, she upset then World No. 1 Serena Williams at the Championships to reach the fourth round.
"It reminds me of the time I beat Serena on the same court eight years ago. I think this court is a lucky charm for me,” Cornet said afterwards about her victory on Court 1.
Cornet, who reached a career No. 11 ranking back in 2009, confounds and delights tennis watchers with a potent all-court game and a tendency for demonstrative emotions at somewhat inopportune times in a match. The fact that she can often upset higher-ranked opponents, but then lose to players below her in the rankings, makes her one of the sport’s most intriguing players.
Causal tennis watchers might consider this a “shock” upset, especially given Swiatek’s recent run of titles that included Indian Wells, Miami, Rome, and then Roland Garros. Yet with Swiatek admitting to not always finding her best form on grass, and then facing the always crafty Cornet, who can be a challenge to play on any surface, the ingredients were all there for Cornet to serve up an upset special, with a hint of French flair.
In this first-time meeting between both players, it was clear early on that Cornet was on top of her game while Swiatek definitely was not. The Polish star struggled to find her range as she mistimed both groundstrokes and her serve. Cornet soon jumped out to a double break 3-1 lead.
The next game proved another struggle for Swiatek, but after eight minutes, a forehand winner from Swiatek finally put her on the scoreboard at 1-3.
Swiatek later held serve for 2-3 to keep her at least in touch with Cornet in the set. Yet Swiatek, with her huge groundstroke swings, and a tendency to slide on the court for shots, as she would have done on the clay in Paris, did her no favors.
Cornet, showing no signs of nerves, maintained her lead. Serving for the set, Cornet fired down a confident smash winner to take it 6-4.
Swiatek did find some hope in the early stages of the second set. After holding serve, Swiatek connected on a forehand winner on break point in the next game to take a 2-0 lead.
Was this now the turning point for the World No. 1 to put her foot down and take control of the match? The answer turned out to be a French “Mais Non.”
Cornet, with perhaps some French luck in the next game, enjoyed two fortunate points on the way to breaking Swiatek back - a lucky net cord winner that just escaped Swiatek’s reach and then a return winner that just fell in at the last second.
After that, Cornet elevated her game by keeping the ball deep and then mixing up the pace when needed. Swiatek went back to committing unnecessary errors, including missing an easy volley later at 2-all.
Cornet, with a forehand winner a few points later, went ahead for 3-2. Another Cornet backhand winner in the next game secured her advantage for 4-2.
After that, Swiatek unraveled with errors coming off her racquet point after point. Cornet’s steady defense from the baseline during one rally caused Swiatek to botch an easy overhead smash well long. Cornet didn’t look back from there as she broke Swiatek again for 5-2.
Cornet soon served out the match to love after Swiatek sent a final forehand into the net to end the just over 90 minute contest.
The key stat of the match proved to be Cornet’s return. The Frenchwoman won 60% of her receiving points during the match (18/30).
Giving all credit to her opponent, Swiatek in her press conference admitted to not really having a solid game plan to figure out how to pull off the comeback win.
“Well, usually when I'm coming back, I have some kind of a plan and I know what to change. Here I didn't know what to change. I was confused. On grass court everything happens so quickly. I can't just use my topspin and put back these balls and just run the point and hope being solid, sometimes pushing the ball, is going to give the right effect. “So here I didn't have any idea. I didn't tank it, but I just didn't know what to do.
"Yeah, I was just kind of I hope that it's going to go in, but I did many mistakes. I didn't even want to get angry again because I was kind of frustrated during my practice week and in second round. I didn't think it's going to help me.”
Cornet next faces Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic in the next round.