Wimbledon 2014: 10 things you may not know about Serena Williams' conqueror - Alize Cornet

Alize Cornet celebrates her win over Serena Williams in the third round at Wimbledon

Frenchwoman Alize Cornet made a name for herself on Saturday evening at the All England Club. With the eyes of the tennis world focussed on her, the 24-year-old pulled off a shocking three-set win over the World No. 1 and overwhelming favourite Serena Williams to advance to the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time in her career. While this may be the first time in her career that Cornet has made the front page headlines, the Frenchwoman is certainly not a newcomer for hardcore tennis fans. She has been on the pro tour since 2006 and has already earned more than $3 million in prize money. For those of you not familiar with Cornet, here are 10 things you may not know about Serena Williams’ conqueror at Wimbledon this year.

1. Cornet is currently ranked no. 24 in the world, but she has been ranked as high as no. 11, way back in February 2009. In the months leading upto that, Cornet reached the finals of the prestigious Italian Open in Rome (where she came through as a qualifier and scored wins over two top 10 players), the finals of WTA events at Acapulco and Budapest, and the semi-finals at Amelia Island, Charleston and New Haven. She dropped all the way to no.89 in 2011 before slowly finding her way back into the top 25.
2. This was not her first win over the 17-time Grand Slam champion. Cornet beat Serena in the semi-finals of the WTA event in Dubai in February this year, before going down to Serena’s sister Venus in the finals. Serena still leads their head-to-head 3-2.
3. Cornet has a tendency to go the distance in her matches. Out of 36 matches she has played on the tour this year (not including mid-match retirements), 21 of the Frenchwoman’s matches have gone to three sets, including all three this week. Cornet has won 14 of the 21 matches that have gone to a decider this year.
4. This is not the first time that Cornet has made it to the second week of a Grand Slam. In 2009, she reached the fourth round of the Australian Open before going down to World no. 3 Dinara Safina 7-5 in the deciding set.
5. Cornet won the French Open Junior Girls singles title in 2007 and her dream is to win the women’s singles title at Roland Garros. In an interview with l’Equipe in 2008, Cornet said, “Roland Garros is winnable for me one day, but not this year. Mentally and physically, it's too soon to be able to manage a tournament like this for an 18-year-old, but I'm learning. I can wait five years, 10 years, 20 years, the important thing is to win it someday. That would be incredible.”.
6. When Cornet plays, you can be rest assured that you will see some drama happening on the court. From tears to tantrums to on-court celebrations, Cornet hides nothing on the court. As noted tennis pundit Jon Werthiem commented, “In the case of Cornet, she has long been regarded a drama queen, a player incapable of finishing a match without some theatricality. For whatever reason, this is part of her performance, part of her M.O. when she takes the court.” One of her notable dramatic moments was when her opponent Sara Errani accused Cornet of shouting Vamos instead of her usual Allez after points only to irk the Italian during their match at the Rogers Cup last year.
7. Cornet is said to be dating 23-year old French tennis journeyman Hugo Nys, who is currently ranked no. 462 in the world and won his second ITF Futures title earlier this year.
8. She openly admitted to having developed a schoolgirl's crush on American tennis star Andy Roddick after he won the 2003 U.S. Open, and even named her dog after him. She also keeps a cat as one of her other pets.
9. Cornet has won four WTA singles & two WTA doubles titles so far in her career. She also partnered with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to lift the Hopman Cup for France for the first time in the tournament’s history.
10. Cornet was 0-13 against top 20 opponents at Grand Slam events before Saturday’s win. She will now hope to make it 2-13 when she takes on Canadian youngster Eugenie Bouchard for a place in Wimbledon’s quarter-finals. Cornet has beaten Bouchard in their only previous encounter on the professional circuit.