Alize Cornet was born on January 22, 1990, in Nice, France, to Patricia and Francis Cornet. Her parents encouraged her to take up athletic pursuits from a young age. She also has a brother named Sebastian, who eventually became her agent.
Cornet had success as a junior player. The most notable achievement was winning the French Open girls’ title in 2007. This demonstrated the talent she had from a young age. After getting her first few victories on the WTA Tour in 2005 and 2006, Cornet played at all four Grand Slams in 2007.
This included a run to the third round of the US Open. Her ranking rose by over 100 places during that season to end the year at No. 57. Cornet had an even bigger breakthrough in 2008. She reached her first WTA final in March of that year at the Mexican Open, but she missed out on the title after a 0-6, 6-4, 1-6 loss to the No. 1 seed Flavia Pennetta.
This was followed by progressing to her only WTA 1000 final to date in Rome two months later. That impressive run included a triumph against the two-time French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. Cornet lost the final 2-6, 2-6 to Jelena Jankovic.
The Frenchwoman then claimed her first WTA title on the clay courts of Budapest in July 2008. She overcame Andrea Klepac 7-6, 6-3 in the final. Cornet ended the year ranked No. 16 in the world. The Budapest champion did not make any more WTA finals during the following three seasons.
Her biggest achievement during that period was progressing to a first Grand Slam fourth round at the 2009 Australian Open. She narrowly failed to reach the quarterfinal after a 2-6, 6-2, 5-7 defeat to Dinara Safina. Cornet won her second and third WTA titles in 2012 and 2013.
These came at the Austrian Open and the Internationaux de Strasbourg. She overcame Yanina Wickmayer and Lucie Hradecka, respectively, in the finals at those events.
At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, Cornet stunningly defeated Serena Williams 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to progress to the fourth round at SW19 for the first time, where she lost to the eventual runner-up Eugenie Bouchard.
She also obtained another WTA title at the Katowice Open in April 2014. Cornet made fourth-round appearances for the first time at her home Grand Slam at Roland Garros in 2015 and 2017. She lost to Elina Svitolina and her compatriot Caroline Garcia respectively.
The Frenchwoman claimed her fifth and sixth WTA titles at the Hobart International in 2016 and the Swiss Open in July 2018. That was accomplished with straight-set final victories against Eugenie Bouchard and Mandy Minella.
At the 2022 Australian Open, Cornet achieved her best Grand Slam result to date. She progressed to the quarterfinal with a run that included victories against Grand Slam champions Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza, before being knocked out by Danielle Collins.
Cornet made an incredible 67th consecutive Grand Slam appearance at the 2024 Australian Open. That is a record that stands alone in the women’s game and is a tribute to the Frenchwoman’s hard work and consistency.
