Alizé Cornet dropped to her knees on the hard blue court, clenched her hands together and took a moment to take it in.
In his 17th Australian Open, his 63rd Grand Slam, and two days after celebrating his 32nd birthday, Cornet finally qualified for the quarterfinals in one of the four major tournaments in world tennis.
Cornet recovered from a poor second set in the Melbourne sun to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 over two-time major champion Simona Halep on Monday.
“It’s never too late to try again!” Cornet said in the on-pitch interview. “Being in my first quarterfinals. It is a dream come true”.
Kaia Kanepi, the current 115 in the women’s ranking, shared the same feeling. He had to wait until the age of 36 to land in the quarterfinals in Australia. After wasting four match points, the Estonian advanced by beating second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7).
Around the same time, Greek Stefanos Tistsipas (seeded 4) defeated American Taylor Fritz (20) 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the Rod Laver to end the eighth day.
Kanepi will have as her rival Iga Swiatek, the Pole who became champion at the 2020 French Open. Swiatek came from behind to beat Romanian Sorana Cirstea 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
“I looked beaten after losing match points on serve,” said Kanepi, who has twice reached the quarter-round at the other three majors. “It was very difficult to recover.
“The quarter-final at the Australian Open was the only thing missing for me. At my age, I didn’t think I could do it.”
Cornet also struggled. She was leading by a set and 3-1 before giving up five straight games and 16 consecutive points, as Halep forced a deciding set.
The Frenchwoman leveled the third set 2-2 after a game in which she did not concede anything, yelling “allez” after every shot.
Halep had a break chance a couple of games later with a right hand down the bar, stunning her opponent. But Cornet was able to hold serve and proceeded to break Halep’s serve to go up 4-3, en route to victory.
Cornet will now face American Danielle Collins, the semi-finalist from the 2019 edition of the tournament. The 27th seed defeated 19th-seeded Belgian Elise Mertens 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a nearly three-hour match that opened the day on Rod Laver Court.
Cornet’s debut in the major singles draw dates back to the 2005 French Open via wild card. He had lost on the previous five occasions he had reached the fourth round. The closest she came to the quarterfinals was when she lost match points in the fourth round at the 2009 edition of Australia, falling to eventual runner-up Dinara Safina.
Currently ranked number 61 in the ranking — 50 steps from his maximum cap of 11 — Cornet began the 2022 season glimpsing the moment of retirement and that it was now or never to strike at a Slam.
“I don’t know if that has helped me,” he said. “Nothing more than I told myself that I had to look for it to make it a reality. Perhaps leave it in the hands of fate. The truth is I do not know”.
The star match of the day in the men’s draw was at Margaret Court, where Daniil Medveded, last champion of the United States Open, Daniil Medvedev, 6-2, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 7 -5, submitted Maxime Cressy, 70 in the ranking.
The second-seeded Medvedev is trying to become the first man in the current open format to win his second major singles title at the next Grand Slam. Now he is three wins away from achieving it.
Medvedev was a runner-up in Australia last year but avenged that setback with a win over Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final. Djokovic is not defending his title in Melbourne, after being deported for failing to comply with Australia’s strict COVID-19 vaccination regulations.
Cressy’s style caused some frustration for Medvedev, who said at the end of the fourth set that it was “the unluckiest day I’ve ever had in my life”. His luck changed quickly. After saving eight break point opportunities in the set, American Cressy had his serve broken in that game and Medvedev settled the match.
He will face ninth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian beat Marin Cilic, the Croatian who won the US Open in 2014, 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2, 7-6 (4). Medvedev beat Auger-Aliassime in the semifinals of the last year at Flushing Meadows.
Italian Jannik Sinner (11th seed) ended Australia’s hopes in the men’s draw with a 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-4 victory over Alex de Minaur (32nd). His rival on duty Tsitsipas, runner-up at Roland Garros last year.
The temperature reached 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit), and players were allowed extra breaks to deal with the heat.
Cornet used ice packs on her head and cold towels on her neck during breaks, trying to cool down.
“After 30 minutes of playing, I was overwhelmed,” Cornet said. “It was all blurry and my hands were shaking.”
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