She’s the woman who beat Serena Williams here last year and a player who seems to have the secret to getting the better of the world No1. Alizé Cornet has won her past three meetings with the American and is probably the last person Williams would want to see across the net as she continues her quest for grand slam title No21. Drawn in opposite halves this time round, their chances of a meeting were slim – they could only have face each other in the final – but slim became none on Thursday as the Frenchwoman was ousted 7-6, 2-6, 6-1 by Olga Govortsova of Belarus.
Cornet got the better of Williams three times in 2014, the most famous of the three coming in the third round at Wimbledon, a match Cornet won in three sets. In the year since, Williams has lost only three times, including to Cornet in Wuhan in September, when she retired at 6-5 up in the first set. Whatever the reason, Cornet has been able to do something few others have managed lately – to make Williams play below her imperious best. So if a smile passed the American’s lips yesterday as Cornet went out, it would have been easily understood.
“I think I played with good tactics for the three times I beat her last year,” Cornet said. “I was playing the right shot at the right time and I was not panicking of who I had on the other side of the net, forgetting about who she is, how many titles she has and her ranking.”
“She is a good runner, she is strong and a great athlete so I was trying to play up the middle and deep. I think the key is to play very deep against Serena because if you play short, you’re dead. I put a lot of first serves in and one of the keys for me was to return all of her serves, and I think she was annoyed by the fact I was returning them, just getting them back. And I was aggressive on the second serve and I think she is not used to that.”
Not everyone can do that, of course, and Cornet admits that consistency is her own problem. But if Heather Watson is looking for tips, then Cornet is worth listening to. “Against Serena you have nothing to lose,” she said. “It’s a pleasure for me to play against such a big champion. I think I put her in a kind of trouble when I play against her and I’m proud of it. My best is coming out against her somehow. I wish I could do it against everyone.”
