Two champions, France’s Alizé Cornet and Spain’s Rafael Nadal, lost their first matches during the 2024 edition of the famous Paris tennis tournament. But while the former has bid farewell to the competition, the latter has not yet bowed out. Because imagining a second life for a professional athlete is not easy…
We’re used to tears at the Roland Garros tournament.
But during this 2024 edition, which comes to an end on June 9, they sometimes had the irremediable and definitive character of a funeral. With the added bonus of sad, rainy weather befitting this type of event.
France’s Alizé Cornet was the most emotional moment of the year, as she bade farewell for good, without holding back her tear glands…
In contrast, men’s tennis legend Rafael Nadal, like his fellow tenniswoman, bowed out of the first match of the tournament on May 27 against Alexander Zverev, but announced that he had not yet made up his mind to retire forever from the tennis courts.
Possible retirement?
As for Novak Djokovic, the world’s No. 1 player, he admitted that, at the age of 37, he finds it more difficult to maintain a constant level of motivation. But while he got the tournament off to a good start, he has yet to raise the prospect of retirement.
Be that as it may, there is a certainty, or sometimes just the impression, that pages are being turned at this edition.
On May 28, 34-year-old Frenchwoman Alizé Cornet lost her first match, the 1002nd of her career, on the main Philippe-Chatrier court at Roland Garros. The player from Nice, 107th in the world, lost in two sets (2-6, 1-6) to China’s Qinwen Zhen, the eighth-ranked player in the world and a finalist at the last Australian Open.
Alizé Cornet had announced from the outset that this tournament would be the last of her career. And she let the tears flow unabashedly at the tribute ceremony dedicated to her. Applauded at length by the audience, she received a trophy of honor from former tenniswoman Amélie Mauresmo, now tournament director, and Gilles Moretton, President of the French Tennis Federation.
The highlights of the twenty-year career of the woman who began her career at the age of 15 and now boasts six singles titles, as well as the record for the number of Grand Slams played in a row (69), were shown on the big screen. All the more reason to turn up the emotional heat…
“I already cried yesterday watching Rafael Nadal. I cried again today. I’ve held it together so far, but now the emotion is overwhelming me. I’ve been preparing for this moment for weeks, but I don’t think you’re ever ready to say goodbye,” she declared.
On Monday May 27, Alizé Cornet witnessed the defeat of her Spanish “colleague”, also in his first match and also on the Philippe Chatrier court.
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Featured Photo: © Roland-Garros
