Alize Cornet continued her strong run in Majors in 2022 by beating defending champion Emma Raducanu 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the US Open.
The 32-year-old Frenchwoman is playing in a women’s record 63rd consecutive Grand Slam singles draw after overtaking Japan’s Ai Sugiyama’s previous record of 62 consecutive appearances. Overall Cornet is fifth in the list.
Most consecutive Grand Slam singles appearances
| Player | Consecutive GS appearances |
|---|---|
| Feliciano Lopez | 79 |
| Fernando Verdasco | 67 |
| Andreas Seppi | 66 |
| Roger Federer | 65 |
| Alize Cornet | 63 |
With the win on Tuesday against Raducanu, Cornet has beaten a past Grand Slam winner in all four Majors this year.
Cornet started the year by making it to a Major singles quarterfinal for the first time in her 63rd Grand Slam appearance and did so by beating two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep.
She then gave a memorable on-court interview with Jelena Dokic, recalling the time she nearly made it to quarterfinals to play the Aussie.
She followed it up by beating 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko at Roland Garros.
Her biggest win of the season came at Wimbledon when she ended World No 1 and two-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek’s 37 match-win streak in the third round. Incidentally, she was ranked 37 at the time.
Cornet, now ranked 40th in the world, drew on all her experience to outplay 19-year-old Raducanu, boldly pulling off a string of exquisite drop shots at key moments to set up the victory.
Speaking after her win, Cornet attributed her recent improvements to maturity.
“I think I’m just handling my emotions better, that’s it,” Cornet said.
“I guess I’m getting old and getting more mature and now when I have to serve for the match I stay in the match and stay in the present moment and really think about what I have to do.
“I think managing my emotions is just much better and I’m really happy because it shows in my results. It’s good because I’m 32. Better late than never.”
She had earlier this year said during her on-court interview at Wimbledon after defeating Osaka how she was ageing well like a French wine. In New York, she once again showed why.
Watch Cornet’s on-court interview in New York here:
With inputs from AFP
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