It was a huge blow that Alizé Cornet made on Saturday July 2 during the third round of the Wimbledon tournament. The Frenchwoman eliminated world number 1, Iga Swiatek, in two sets (6-4, 6-2), also ending the series of 37 consecutive victories of the Pole.
“I don’t have the words… It reminds me of my victory against Serena [Williams] eight years ago on this same number one court which brings me luck”, commented the Frenchwoman after the meeting. “I knew I could do it. Because if there was a moment to beat her, I knew it was on grass,” added Alizé Cornet, who reached the round of 16 of the London tournament in 2014 by beating Serena Williams. But since then she had not passed the third round.
Iga Swiatek had not lost a match since his second round elimination in Dubai in February. She had won the six tournaments she had played since: Doha, Indian Wells and Miami on hard courts, Stuttgart, Rome and Roland-Garros on clay.
For her part, the Niçoise (37th player in the world), aged 32, will face in the round of 16 the Australian Ajla Tomljanovic (44th player in the world), who beat the Czech Barbora Krejcikova.
She joins two other French women who have also qualified for the round of 16: Caroline Garcia, who will face Czech Marie Bouzkova, and Harmony Tan, who will play against American Amanda Anisimova. A performance that French tenniswomen had not achieved since 2005 on English grass.
