Tearful Cornet makes curtain call at Roland Garros after defeat to China's Zheng

China's Zheng Qinwen sent Frenchwoman Alize Cornet to retirement in an hour and 23 minutes with a 6-2, 6-1 first-round victory at the French Open on Tuesday.

Cornet, given a wild card on her record 69^th consecutive Grand Slam main draw entry, had announced earlier that this would be her last event. In a career that spanned almost two decades, Cornet reached her highest WTA singles ranking at No. 11 in February 2009 and has won six singles and three doubles titles on tour, which was celebrated in a post-match ceremony on the court attended by French tennis federation president Gilles Moretton and tournament director Amélie Mauresmo.

"Emotion overwhelms me because I see how far I have come. I am proud of what I accomplished, I would have liked to do more, but I gave everything to my sport, and I was incredibly lucky to have lived this life,” said the 34-year-old on Roland-Garros' center court, where she started her tour career in 2005 at the age of 15.

Seventh-seeded Zheng led early 4-0 in the first set, although the home player managed to reduce the deficit, dragging the Australian Open finalist into long exchanges before Zheng took the next two games. The 21-year-old continued to control the tempo in the second set, allowing only one service game for Cornet to take the set 6-1, and reach the second round where she will meet Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch who downed American Ashlyn Krueger. 

"Lot of emotions and I've been preparing myself for weeks for this moment, but you're never really ready when you have to say goodbye. It's a page of my book that’s turning... 20 years of pro tennis," said a tearful Cornet.

"I'd like to be remembered as a genuine player who shared all her emotions with everyone, throughout her career with a fighting spirit. Someone who is a passionate tennis player, who likes to fight and who could die for it. I think I showed it several times, that it was actually my type of character. People may love me or not for that type of personality, actually, but this is what brought me until here."

Zheng, who is on her third French Open campaign, paid tribute to the veteran against whom she enjoyed a walkover in their only previous meeting in 2022.

"To some degree Cornet is a special player to me. In my first third-round match at Roland Garros, I played against her on Philippe-Chatrier. Some players are special to me, and Cornet is one of them," she said. "I didn't want to be the last to send her off, but that's how the draw worked."

"Experiencing a player's retirement in person is quite shocking for me since I am just starting my career… She has played at Roland Garros for 20 years, which is an incredible number, from 15 to 35 years old. Witnessing her final moments on court was touching, especially seeing the video Roland Garros made for her, capturing her growth from 15 to 35. It moved me deeply.”

Meanwhile, five Chinese players out of eight who entered the main draw reached the second round as of Tuesday.

Besides Zheng, Chinese women Wang Xiyu, Wang Xinyu, and Wang Yafan beat their respective opponents, China's Bai Zhuoxuan, Germany’s Jule Niemeier, and Russian Maria Glebovna Timofeeva to advance.

Yuan Yue and Zhu Lin were ousted by Egyptian Mayar Sherif and Russian Elina Avanesyan, respectively.

On Saturday, Zhang Zhizhen, China's only male player in the main draw, beat Australia's Aleksandar Vukic 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 to set up his next match against Italian Lorenzo Sonego.