At last year's US Open, where she set the all-time record of consecutive Grand Slam main-draw appearances, Alizé Cornet dubbed herself the "upset girl" of the Hologic WTA Tour.
It's a fitting epithet. Though the Frenchwoman's own highest ranking is No.11, which she hit as a 19-year-old back in 2009, she has notched 25 wins over Top 10 opposition in her career. Three have come at Wimbledon, and there has been at least one in each of the past 10 seasons.
Ahead of this year's Championships, where Cornet could face the defending champion and No.3 seed Elena Rybakina in the second round, the 33-year-old took time out of practice to run through her memories of her career highlights.
1. 2008 Rome R3, d. (5) Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-4
2. 2008 Rome SF, d. (8) Anna Chakvetadze 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
"I had such a good run in Rome. I was an 18-year-old qualifier, and I went all the way to the finals. I was a newcomer, I had entered the Top 100 the year before and it was a dream-like week.
"We're talking about a time that was 15 years ago so I don't remember how I was feeling exactly, but I don't think I was that impressed [by Top 10 players]. I was just going on the court and giving everything I had, like I'm doing now. I was pretty confident in my capacities."
3. 2014 Dubai R1, d. (9) Simona Halep 6-1, 1-1 ret.
4. 2014 Dubai SF, d. (1) Serena Williams 6-4, 6-4
"I didn't beat any Top 10 players for six years? Oh my God.
"That was a very special match for me [against Serena], to prove to myself that I could beat this kind of player, this kind of legend. I remember preparing for it very precisely with my coach back then. Trying to put a strategy in place that could be efficient against her. It's not easy to have one against Serena as she was on top of her career, but I remember playing the tactic perfectly.
"I had a bit of luck here and there -- to have this kind of success you need that -- but it was a very emotional win for me. It put me into my second big final [at WTA 500 level or above] and it had been so long [since Rome], I didn't even remember the feeling. Unfortunately I lost to Venus. It's really hard to beat both sisters in the same tournament."
5. 2014 Katowice SF, d. (3) Agnieszka Radwanska 0-6, 6-2, 6-4
"I don't remember getting bageled. But this was another special one. First title on indoor hard courts, which was a bit unexpected for me because I was never a fast-surface player. And Aga is Aga. She was always beating me before [three times], and that was the first time I beat her.
"I won the title against [Camila] Giorgi, another really tough match. But the match against Aga gave me so much confidence. Beating her in front of her home crowd was proof of my level at that time, which I think was really good."
6. 2014 Wimbledon R3, d. (1) Serena Williams 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
"Maybe the best win of my career.
"Before this tournament, my grandmother passed away, not even a week before this match. The day before I played Serena, I went back and forth to Nice to go to her funeral. The day before playing Serena, I was not practicing, I was on a plane. When I entered the court I was in another world. I was like, 'OK, nothing really matters. I'm just going to play for my grandmother, try to have fun as much as I can.' Then the miracle happened.
"It was very, very emotional to beat Serena on this surface. I'd never felt super-comfortable on grass until the previous year. Having this kind of win on No.1 Court in front of my friends and family is something I'll never forget.
"I knew what I had to do against her, because it worked once. So I tried to keep it really simple in my head, to adopt the same strategy. I knew hard courts and grass courts were two different things, but I really tried to keep it simple."
7. 2014 Wuhan R2, d. (1) Serena Williams 5-6 ret.
8. 2015 Madrid R1, d. (2) Simona Halep 7-6(6), 6-3
"It's funny, because each match we're going through so far are matches where I played really well. It didn't happen by chance. I played a really solid match against Halep. The right tactics, the right intentions at the right times. Simona is definitely one of the best players of all time on clay, and I had to dig deep and be brave. I remember the first set was really close. I had to go a couple of times down the line, really go for it. A really cool win. I was really proud of myself."
9. 2015 Toronto R1, d. (10) Carla Suárez Navarro 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-4
10. 2016 Beijing R2, d. (8) Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
11. 2017 Brisbane QF, d. (5) Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 7-5
"Ah, I don't remember this match. Suárez Navarro was Top 10 at this time? I remember playing against her in Indian Wells, but not this one, I'm sorry!"
"The match in Beijing, I can't remember, but the one in Brisbane was a very good match. Dominika was really hard to beat, She was putting so much intensity in her shots and she was such a great fighter, so fast on her legs. If I wanted to beat her, I had to be at my best."
You finished your career with a 3-8 record against Cibulkova, but you beat her both of the times you played when she was in the Top 10.
"That's funny. It's like there was an extra challenge. No, it was just a coincidence. It's not a conscious thing."
12. 2017 Brisbane SF, d. (7) Garbiñe Muguruza 4-1 ret.
13. 2017 Roland Garros R3, d. (10) Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-1
"That was a good match. I crushed her. It's the only time I felt like I was in control of the whole match against a Top 10 player. Clay was not her favorite surface, we all know that. But I was just the better player on court. I was doing everything that I wanted to do. Drop shots, volleys, topspin forehands, down the line ... everything was working. It was a match to go to the second week, and that's only happened twice at Roland Garros. So far!"
14. 2017 Wuhan R2, d. (8) Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-3
"I think she was injured a bit. She was slicing a lot and I think her wrist was not doing great."
15. 2018 Brisbane R1, d. (8) Caroline Garcia 3-6, 6-3 ret.
16. 2018 Charleston R3, d. (7) Caroline Garcia 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
"It's never easy to play a fellow countrywoman, and especially a friend, because she is a good friend. But you have to try to put this aside and just go for it.
"Brisbane was a tough encounter, but then she blocked her back or something. But in Charleston it was a night match. I was alone there, traveling by myself with no coach. I remember really taking the crowd with me to help me get through this win."
17. 2018 Montréal R2, d. (4) Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-1
"It's funny, I always had a really strong tactic against Kerber. This time, I played it perfectly. I remember going on the court thinking, 'You have to do this, and this, and this. And you won't change until the match is over.' And that's what happened. She had just won Wimbledon, so I was even more happy -- I'd just beaten the last Grand Slam winner.
"I will not tell you the tactic because she's coming back. I cannot say."
18. 2019 Rome R1, d. (10) Aryna Sabalenka 6-1, 6-4
"She made a lot of mistakes that day. I remember it was windy that day, and I was solid. I was doing an Alizé match, you know? She was double-faulting a lot and being very impatient. It was not a great day for her. I was just doing my stuff and putting the ball back, and it worked out good for me.
"I could see she had amazing potential, though. She just had to put it all in the right way. I'm not surprised at how successful she is now."
19. 2019 Eastbourne R2, d. (8) Elina Svitolina 6-3, 7-6(3)
"Oh, I'm proud of this one. This was a match between two fighters. I guess it shows I can do both. When I need to be aggressive, I'm doing it. When I need to be a bit more defensive, I'm doing it, too.
"By now, I was really enjoying my time on grass. Since 2013, I was really feeling the grass -- how to move on it, how to play on it. But I lost to Ons Jabeur in the next round, and I was so frustrated. I felt I could go further in the tournament."
20. 2020 Western & Southern Open R2, d. (4) Sofia Kenin 6-1, 7-6(7)
"That's where I said I don't need a crowd to light the fire in me. It was still weird to play in an empty stadium [due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Western & Southern Open was held at Flushing Meadows], and I was very tight. Kenin was playing an amazing season but I remember how much I needed that win.
"I was not in an easy time in my career. I was questioning if I should keep playing or not. Covid had arrived and it was very fuzzy in my head. In lockdown, I lost so much of my tennis. Not my physical condition, because I was working out every day. But the tennis took a while to come back. I had never stopped for two-and-a-half months in my whole life.
"This win really cheered me up and showed me I had some tennis left. It kept me motivated, then I did a great US Open."
21. 2021 Berlin R2, d. (7) Bianca Andreescu 7-6(2), 7-5
22. 2021 Wimbledon R1, d. (7) Bianca Andreescu 6-2, 6-1
"I didn't think I could do it in Berlin. I didn't know what to expect from Bianca on grass -- no one did, not even her, I think. But then when I did it, I was much more confident in Wimbledon and I knew what to expect. I used my experience of many years on grass to be in control of the match. I really enjoyed myself.
"But I think Bianca is playing much better. Year after year, she really feels the grass a lot more."
You're also a player who likes to play with a lot of spin and athleticism who didn't enjoy grass at first.
"It comes with time. You learn how to manage this surface and it only comes with time. Some players find it easier because they have the game for it. But players like us, it takes more time to know what we can do with our kind of game. It took me five years to figure it out, but I finally did. Now, it's maybe my favorite time of the year. Unbelievable!"
23. 2022 Australian Open R3, d. (3) Garbiñe Muguruza 6-3, 6-3
"Halep [in the fourth round] was not Top 10? But Simona is always worth a Top 10 win.
"I remember having absolutely no pressure [against Muguruza]. I remember walking down the aisle with all the winners on each side, and thinking, if it has to be the last time I'm going on this Rod Laver Arena -- because at that time it was supposed to be my last year -- just enjoy the moment. You're so lucky to be there. By enjoying, I played one of my best matches of the season. Just a clean tennis match.
"But beating Simona to go to the quarterfinal was even more special for me -- to beat a player I admire, who had been in the Top 10 for so long, even if she was not Top 10 at the time, in three sets under the crazy Australian heat. That was the way to do it.
"It seems like a long time ago already. It's funny, it's only been one-and-a-half years. I have the feeling that a lot of water has gone under the bridge. I feel nostalgic about this quarterfinal. And then I lost! I lost in the quarterfinal. Even though I'd been waiting for it for so long, you always want more, you know?"
24. 2022 Wimbledon R3, d. (1) Iga Swiatek 6-4, 6-2
"Someone had to do it and it had to be me. That's exactly what I told myself. Someone has to break the streak, and I have everything to do it on this surface. If it would have been in Paris or even the US Open, I wouldn't be that confident, but I knew on grass she was not feeling comfortable yet. She's a young player still learning.
"With my experience, I'd already done it against Serena, also in the third round, on the same court. That was a sign. I felt super-confident, but not in a cocky way. I was believing in myself. I have a lack of this very often in my career, and it was very enjoyable to play with that feeling.
"I was not going through an easy time in my personal life. I'd just broken up with my boyfriend a couple of months before. This win, again, cheered me up and gave me something to be happy about."
A lot of people called this upset. The feeling of being expected to pull off an upset, almost to the extent that you become the favorite, must be quite strange.
"Last year I was a giant-slayer, it is true. People just know I can do it, and I know it, too. But it's still not easy to put it out there. Against a player like Iga, c'mon!
"But I think I play so good against Top 10 players because I have no expectations. All the other times, I have so much expectation on myself and I put so much pressure on myself. These matches, I have 'nothing to lose,' let's say. I can just play my game, and my game is good. Then I get frustrated because in the next match, it's not so good. It's a vicious circle, but I'm still working through it at 33."
25. 2023 Nottingham R2, d. (8) Maria Sakkari 6-1, 6-4
"Grass again, hein? My God, crazy. I played a good match, but I was not so surprised to do it. But it was not like Bianca. She took her revenge in Berlin. She adjusted her game. But I had a good time on the court. I play my best tennis when I'm just having fun. When I'm just going for it, being bold, going to the net and creating a lot of opportunities."
