Over Her Limit

In a sport awash in fist-pumps, how does a tennis player make one of hers stand out? How does she show the world that, this time, she really means it?

Alizé Cornet was faced with this question in her third-round match against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni on Friday. From the start, she had been giving her supporters in Court Philippe Chatrier a solid, standard single-fist pump after a winning point. At more important moments, she had celebrated by clenching both fists, bending at the waist, and letting out a stadium rattling “Allleeeezzzz!” Now it was deep into the third set, and she had just saved a break point with a brilliant, dipping pass. How was she going to up the fist-pump ante again? Cornet, like the consummate performer that she is, decided to pull back a little this time, for dramatic effect. She clenched her first, pumped it briefly, and then brought it to her chin and held it there, motionless, for a few long seconds as she closed her eyes.

The Frenchwoman was milking the moment, and the French crowd was happy to lap it up. They helped push the 25-year-old Nice native back from the brink of defeat, over the finish line, and into the fourth round with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over Lucic-Baroni. It’s been five years since the audience here watched one of its own, Marion Bartoli, go deep into the women's draw at Roland Garros, and as the week began, it seemed unlikely that this streak of futility on the WTA side was going to end anytime soon.

Caroline Garcia, France’s No. 2-ranked woman behind Cornet, was upset in the first round, and afterward she talked about how much she hated playing in front of her compatriots in the big stadium at Roland Garros. It has been a theme among French players for years; the Parisian audience can smother them in expectations and emotion. But for now, Cornet, with her enthusiastic embrace of the stage and the moment—does it surprise you that her tennis-playing hero is Andy Roddick?—has made all of that sound like ancient history.

“The crowd was amazing once more today,” said Cornet, who, despite the fan support, had never been past the third round here. “They really helped me get through the tough times on the court. Mirjana was playing really aggressively, and I had to play with all my heart, and the crowd behind me like that was giving me energy to keep going and not let go.”

“I owe them a lot today, because I think I went over my limits.”

Cornet might have been referring to her post-match celebration. When Lucic-Baroni’s final shot sailed long, Cornet fell to the clay, rolled on her back, and opened her hands to the sky. As she walked to the net, she shared a tearful look with her coaches in the crowd. Any viewer tuning in at that moment might have thought she had just won the French Open.

“I do feel the pressure of Roland Garros, and the pressure that I want to do well,” she said. “But being on center court is much better for me because I love being out there. I always have good vibes on that court—I can’t explain it. There’s a kind of magic on that court.”

Do you like your tennis players to, as the saying goes, “act like they’ve been there before”? This is the traditionalist’s wish, and it was the rule of thumb for much of the sport's history. And it is comical to imagine Chris Evert or Rod Laver rolling around in the clay and fist-pumping after winning a Grand Slam, let alone after winning a third-round match.

But if Cornet’s antics irritate the purists, they play better with tennis’ younger, social-media set. She’s expressive—you see a full range of emotions during her matches—she’s highly GIF-able, and she’s spontaneous. When she lost a set in her first-round match, Cornet flashed her coaches a sarcastic thumbs up—“Nice work, you two” seemed to be the message. Then, when she came back to win, she grinned and pointed at them, as if to say, “We did it, you're the best!”

Cornet is joyful in victory, without being aggressive or self-regarding. Off the court, she’s a good interview, thoughtful and typically willing to give full answers even in defeat. On court, she's good entertainment value. Her win over Lucic-Baroni was a kitchen-sink classic: Overmatched by the taller woman from the ground, Cornet threw everything she could at her; the slice forehand was a particularly effective weapon. By the end, Cornet had turned the match into one of the best battles of the tournament so far. It may have only been a third-rounder, but it was a win worth celebrating. Cornet is never afraid to show how much she cares.

Cornet’s run at Roland Garros is starting to resemble Bartoli’s berserk breakout to the semis five years ago. The highest seed Cornet would have to face to make the final four is Ana Ivanovic. Of course, Cornet's win on Friday was a high-wire act, and French tennis fans know from bitter experience how quickly their players can fall off those high wires in Paris, and how quickly they can fall out of their own favor. But Cornet is showing that it isn’t only the French men who can pull off these performances in Chatrier.

At 5’8” and 139 pounds, Cornet can struggle to impose herself, and she hasn’t had the power to crack the Top 15 yet. As the 29th seed, she won’t even be favored to win her next match, against 19th-seeded Elina Svitolina. But even the game’s traditionalists might secretly find it fun to see her, as she says, play with all her heart and go over her limits again.

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