Feuding Frenchwomen to clash at Roland Garros
paris — Alize Cornet and Caroline Garcia, French compatriots but barely on speaking terms after a bitter feud, will clash for a place in the Roland Garros quarterfinals.
Cornet reached the last 16 for the just second time with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Polish ninth seed Agnieszka Radwanska who lost all her seven service games.
Garcia, seeded 28, made the fourth round of a Slam for the first time with a 6-4, 4-6, 9-7 win over Taiwan’s world number 109 Hsieh Su-Wei. Those wins guaranteed the home nation will have at least one quarter-finalist in Paris for the first time since Marion Bartoli in 2011.
However, Cornet admitted that her relationship with Garcia has virtually broken down. “I think that the relationship is not very good,” said 27-year-old Cornet. “I think she may have a grudge against us, so she’s not ready to talk with me, so I don’t think that it will be good to talk to her, because we are playing against each other.
“But one day I hope that she will tell me, ‘Let’s discuss’. And I’m patient. I understand that the whole story has upset her.”
Garcia fell out with her teammates after she severed her successful doubles relationship with Kiki Mladenovic. The 23-year-old then pulled out of the Fed Cup team in April despite being nominated for the tie with Spain.
There had already been controversy over her selection as Garcia had earlier stated she did not want to play in the event at all in 2017.
When she withdrew in April, Mladenovic, Cornet and teammate Pauline Parmentier all tweeted: “LOL”, all within a minute of each other. Garcia hit back in a newspaper interview, saying the “words were hurtful”.
On Saturday, there was no sign of a thaw in the ice-cold relationship with Cornet. “I received a text message but no apologies,” said Garcia. “She said she was still standing behind her tweets.” Garcia added: “I don’t want to prove anything to anybody. I have played tennis for a long time. I just play for myself, for my team.” —