Australian Open: Cornet "cooked", but finally in the quarters

Tournament favorite Daniil Medvedev (2nd in the world) was hooked for the first time: he gave up his first set of the fortnight before beating American Maxime Cressy (70th) 6-2, 7-6 (7 /4), 6-7 (4/7), 7-5 after a "hell match".

Russian Daniil Medvedev, during his victory against American Maxime Cressy, in the round of 16 of the Australian Open, January 24, 2022 MICHAEL ERREY AFP

He will face Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime (9th) for a place in the last four.

If it passed narrowly for Stefanos Tsitsipas (4th) and Iga Swiatek (9th), it however broke for Aryna Sabalenka (2nd).

The Greek was pushed into the 5th set by the American Taylor Fritz (22nd) on Monday but he qualified 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, the Pole lost her first set of the tournament against the Romanian Sorana Cirstea (38th) 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.

The joy of Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, qualified for the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, after his victory in 5 sets against the American Taylor Fritz, on January 24, 2022 in Melbourne Paul Crock AFP

The Belarusian had for the first time in four rounds won the first set, but this time it was her who suffered a reversal of the situation in favor of her opponent, the Estonian Kaia Kanepi (115th) 5-7, 6-2 , 7-6 (10/7).

Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, 2nd in the world, during her defeat, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (10/7), against Estonian Kaia Kanepi, in the round of 16 of the Australian Open, on January 24, 2022 in Melbourne MICHAEL ERREY AFP

Cornet, 61st in the world, fought against the pressure, the heat and of course her tough opponent to finally pass this fateful milestone for her of the round of 16, after losing five, beating Halep (15th) 6-4, 3- 6, 6-4.

"After 30 minutes of the match, we were both already cooked but we both continued to fight", underlined Cornet.

The Frenchwoman, who is participating in her 60th Major without having missed a single one since the 2007 Australian Open and her 63rd overall, will face the American Danielle Collins (30th) on Wednesday for a place in the semi-finals.

"It's a dream come true," she said.

The two players suffered a lot from the oppressive heat of this early afternoon, in the middle of the Australian summer.

The air temperature was 33°C but it was much higher on the court, in the furnace of the Rod Laver Arena.

So much so that the organization's alert level was 3.5 when, at 5, matches are suspended.

Alizé Cornet (top) after her victory over Simona Halep on January 22, 2022 in Melbourne Martin KEEP AFP

"My hands were shaking"

"I stopped thinking after 30 minutes of play. I couldn't see clearly, my hands were shaking, but I saw that she (Halep) was no better," said the Frenchwoman.

As the match progressed, each point became a more or less long torture session, depending on how long it took one or the other to crack.

But none gave up and the intense standoff dragged on for 2h33.

Cornet had three breaks in the first set, including the one that allowed him to conclude the first set by taking advantage of a double fault from his opponent.

In the second set, the Frenchwoman took Halep's service game to lead 3-1.

But, at 3-2, Cornet scored the first point of the 6th game, before conceding 16 in a row which allowed the Romanian to return to a set everywhere!

Alizé Cornet hits a return in her match against Simona Halep on January 24, 2022 in Melbourne Martin KEEP AFP

Trailing 6-4, 3-1, Halep chained a total of six games to lead 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 as Cornet went through a big slump.

At the change of sides at 3-2 for her in the second set, the referee asked her to resume the game more quickly.

"Do you realize how hard it is? It's crazy, it's inhuman," she replied.

"The adventure goes on"

In the decisive set, Cornet took the lead by breaking for 4-3 and confirmed at 5-3.

In the process, she had two first match points on Halep's serve but the Romanian saved them and forced the French to serve for the match.

Her first round of 16 in a Major, Cornet had reached it in Melbourne in 2009. She had two match points against the Russian Dinara Safina, then world No.3, before losing.

This time, underlined Cornet, "the adventure continues!".

For her next opponent Danielle Collins (30th), the qualification was also "hard physically".

Earlier than Cornet but already under a blazing sun, the American fought 2h51 to eliminate the Belgian Elise Mertens (26th) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

American Danielle Collins will face Alizé Cornet in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, after eliminating Belgian Elise Mertens, on January 24, 2022 in Melbourne Paul Crock AFP

She had already spent five hours on the court in three games, including 2:35 on Saturday in the 3rd round to beat Denmark's Clara Tauson (39th) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

© 2022 AFP