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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Matthew Cooper

Wimbledon star who took aim at tennis organisers forced to pull out of clash

Alize Cornet has been forced to pull out of the women's doubles tournament at Wimbledon after suffering a knee injury, having slammed organisers over their treatment of lower-ranked players.

Cornet was left in tears after her right knee gave out in her singles match against defending champion Elena Rybakina, having entered the contest with that same leg already heavily strapped. She bravely battled on, but ultimately lost 6-2 7-6 (7-2).

The injury has now forced Cornet to pull out of the doubles tournament, where she was due to play alongside Panna Udvardy against British pair Freya Christie and Ali Collins on Saturday.

Christie and Collins are now due to face Andrea Gamiz and Anastasia Detiuc instead. Cornet posted an image on her Instagram story of her with a brace on her right knee, with the caption: "Mood of the day".

Following her loss to Rybakina, Cornet took aim at Wimbledon chiefs over their rules on tickets. "For me the biggest issue on this tournament was, yeah, the difference between today I played on Centre Court, and I had basically 40 tickets to give away," she said.

"On my first round, I had two. That explains everything. Nobody could come. I couldn't even invite like one of my best friends who was there. Two tickets on the outside court, it's too little.

"Then you have a huge gap and you get 40 when you play on Centre Court. You need to give a little more credit to players that play on the outside courts. This tournament exists because of all the players, not only the ones that play on the big courts.

Alize Cornet was in tears as she suffered a knee injury in her second round match against Elena Rybakina (Shi Tang/Getty Images)
Cornet shared a picture of her wearing a knee brace on Instagram (Instagram/@alizecornet)

"It's better [at the US Open]. No, the biggest gap is here in Wimbledon. In the other tournaments, you get like four, six, you know, at least a little bit to invite your friends. So every year I'm thinking the same, I'm like, yeah, if you want to - everybody is asking me for tickets.

"If the schedule puts me on Court 10, I cannot give you anything. It's a shame, but it's the rule. Of course you're a bit more comfortable when you're a better player, but that's how society works. The better you are and the more advantage you get. That's how it works."

Cornet is currently ranked 74th in the world, but was once ranked as high as No. 11 in 2009. At last year's Wimbledon, she notably knocked out top seed Iga Swiatek in the third round and ended her stunning 37-match winning streak - the longest of the 21st century.

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