Alizé Cornet, who had shown his joy to resume the circuit despite the conditions, had to play Elise Mertens this Thursday at Abu Dhabi. But the Belgian, injured in the shoulder, withdrew. The Azurean therefore inherited a lucky loser, in this case the Greek Valentini Grammatikopoulou, 269th in the world. And the difference in the standings is verified (6-2, 6-2). “I did well and it’s always cool to start the season with a victory (…) I was frustrated at the end of the season. I did I don’t know how many weeks of land periods. I had only one desire: to play!“she confided after her meeting. In the second round, she will play the Spanish Paula Badosa.
Cornet: “It feels good to start 2021 with a victory”
Alizé Cornet on the Australian quarantine: “We will have to show tolerance of patience”
This tournamentAbu Dhabi is far from being a simple harmless cover because the players have few opportunities to express themselves before theOpen d’Australie. They will arrive between the 15th and 16th at Melbourne and will have only one tournament, from February 1 to 7, in the legs before the first Grand Slam of the season. Another problem: the management of the quarantine from January 16 to 31. “It will take patience. There will only be 5 hours outside the room. It means 19 hours a day locked in the bedroom … it’s a bit mental but as long as I can train. Right now, it’s just adaptation. It will take tolerance, patience. I picked up books, I intend to spend my time in the most pleasant way and there is worse than being locked in a luxury hotel. You have to stop complaining (laughs)“, commented the Niçoise concerning this compulsory quarantine.
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