This Tuesday, the return to competition for Alizé Cornet was announced at the La Bisbal d’Emporda tournament. A WTA 125 event in which Diane Parry was also registered.
It has been more than eight months since Alizé Cornet from Nice announced her retirement. After eight weeks of training, the former world number 11 was back on the tennis courts at the La Bisbal d’Emporda tournament. Although she remains ranked, she received a wildcard invitation from the organizers. Now ranked 532nd in the world, she faced a relatively unknown Spanish player, Irene Burillo Escorihuela (27 years old, world number 231).
As if nothing had changed, the player from Nice dominated her opponent of the day (6-1/6-2) on the Spanish clay court. Getting off to a good start, she immediately broke serve. Strong in her service games, the player from the French Riviera never truly faltered in the first set, except when closing it out with two saved break points at (15-40).
The second set was slightly more competitive. But not enough to destabilize Alizé Cornet, whose percentage of points won on serve (74%) showed no signs of physical discomfort. This bodes well before heading to Rouen next week. Before that, she will face Swiss player Susan Bandecchi (26 years old, world number 199) on Thursday.
Diane Parry Struggles
While everything is going well for Alizé Cornet, the one seen as her successor at the forefront of Nice tennis struggles to regain her form. Also participating in this WTA 125 event in La Bisbal, Diane Parry did not meet the same fate. Against another Spanish player, Angela Fita Boluda (25 years old, world number 244), the player from the French Riviera couldn’t set the pace.
In difficulty on her first serve game, the player from Nice managed to recover and even break serve to lead (4-2) in the first set. A short-lived advantage that shifted in favor of her opponent after a tightly contest 8th game on the Spanish player’s serve, allowing her to come back to equality by saving six break points. Subsequently, Diane Parry faltered and lost the first set (4-6).
Probably affected by the start of the match, Diane Parry was broken again at the beginning of the second set and found herself chasing the score. A race she ultimately lost as she was defeated (6-2) in the second set. A worrying result for the player from the French Riviera who has dropped to world number 115 and will now have to go through the qualification rounds of the various tournaments she intends to compete in.
But the most crucial aspect at this stage is regaining confidence to win matches. With a key aim of securing direct qualification for the next Grand Slam tournament, Roland Garros.