The spectators who took a ticket for this first match day between Great Britain and France in the qualifying round of the Billie Jean King Cup got their money’s worth, to say the least. The 1500 happy people who were present in the stands of one of the small rooms of the Coventry Building Society Arena were entitled to no less than 5h53 hours of tennis. Enough to go home satisfied without even going to the pub. Whatever…
Because after 3:26 of the match between Caroline Garcia and Katie Boulter (6-7, 7-6, 7-6), it was Alizé Cornet (70th) and Harriet Dart (138th) who had the greatest difficulty in deciding. It must be said that in terms of confidence, the two women were traveling light. Apart from the United Cup, Dart has not won a match (except qualifying) on the WTA Tour this season. And it’s not much better for Cornet who only has one WTA victory this season. The Frenchwoman advanced a physical glitch which had “loses body confidence” at the start of the season. However, to engage in the fight, Cornet must know how to count on his physique.
A first set where the waitresses were not at the party
In Conventry, she did not experience any alert on this point. But it was obvious that she was not in the best mental condition. Too often, we have seen her on the back foot, not daring to finish a point aggressively and being too passive. Result: a long fight where each point was fiercely disputed.
Broken from the start, the Frenchwoman was immediately in trouble. But after nothing less than six breaks on either side in this first set, it was necessary to go through a tie-break. The fourth of the day! Dart was the first to get a set point there. But it was Cornet’s that was going to be transformed, nicely cushioned after a new rally.
Cornet doesn’t give up
Break, there was no question in the second set. Although Cornet had four occasions (only one for Dart), each waitress remained in control of her commitment. With games frequently reaching eight minutes, the tussle was intense, but no one wanted to back down. It was then time for a fifth tie-break of the day in as many sets disputed.
As a great fighter that she is, Cornet was able to tighten the game at the right time. This time, no fear and a decisive game smoothly led to bring the second point to France after 2h27. “We don’t realize how hard it is. You must not let go of anything from the first to the last point. I was strong when needed. It wasn’t my best match in terms of ball quality, but I was able to take him on in this physical fight which is a bit my speciality, even if at my age it’s starting to be difficult. And when I doubted, Julien Benneteau was able to restore my confidence.confided Cornet after his match at the microphone of beIN Sports.
