SUMMARY
- French player Alize Cornet is one of the most consistent players on the tour.
- She opened up about suffering from bouts of depression due to her tennis career.
Like any other sport, tennis is as rewarding as it is unforgiving. Athletes toil hard, day in and day out, and sometimes the effort is not enough. Professional players are well familiar with failure, and they carry on despite meeting obstacles along the way. However, when tennis stars dedicate their lives to the sport, they can also lose sight of what’s important, and Alize Cornet can attest to that.
Cornet has etched her name in the history books as the player with the most Grand Slam appearances. She made 68 consecutive appearances at major tournaments in 17 years. Moreover, Cornet’s hard work paid off when she climbed up the rankings ladder. She achieved her highest rank of world No. 11 in February 2009.
With so much experience behind her, Alize is in a unique position to offer counsel to new players. The most important piece of advice she can offer, though, is that tennis is not life. She opened up about struggling with depression and not knowing who she was when she was young. At 34, Cornet has a better understanding of herself now.
“I had periods of depression, because I no longer knew who I was, if I was just a tennis player or a woman, a young woman. So my advice would be to really take care of who you are as a person, beyond tennis,” she said (via welovetennis.fr).
Alize Cornet has been a veteran of the sport and one of the most recognizable faces on the tour for almost two decades. The French player has seen the highs and the lows of the sport, but she took on the bull by its horns. In turn, Alize has become a seasoned warrior. Cornet knows she will not be playing much longer, but she just wants to enjoy her time now.
Alize Cornet wants to enjoy till she hangs up her racket
The French player has always put her best foot forward, always looking for ways to improve. After 17 years, Cornet feels she can still learn something new.
However, Cornet’s career is slowly on the decline, and she ended last season outside the top 100 for the first time. She took to social media to reflect on her journey and how she spent 17 years of her career within the top 100.
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Alize Cornet is not ready to announce anything about her retirement just yet, though. She knows she is far from her best now, but she still wants to learn new ways to play better. Cornet is at a point where she enjoys her tennis without worrying much about her ranking anymore.