Top players get better treatment at Wimbledon, says Alize Cornet

LONDON – Lower-ranked players are not treated as equals to the big names at Wimbledon, France’s former world No. 11 Alize Cornet said on Thursday after losing in the second round.

Her 16th Wimbledon journey was ended by defending champion Elena Rybakina as

she suffered a 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) loss

in which she also had a knee injury that left her in tears. The 24-year-old Kazakh will face Britain’s Katie Boulter in her next match.

The 33-year-old Cornet, now ranked 74th and playing in a women’s professional era-record 66th successive Grand Slam, said she noticed the difference at the All England Club in 2023.

“It’s a different treatment on every Slam,” she said. “When I’m at home, in Roland Garros, I have priorities over the courts; I know everybody, I can ask when I want to play. The organisation does everything for the French player to be successful there.

“Then in Wimbledon, you have a huge difference between the seeded players and the other players. This is not new. The difference of treatment and tickets.”

Asked to elaborate, Cornet said she had been given only two tickets for her first-round victory on an outside court. But she received 40 for her match against world No. 3 Rybakina on Centre Court – not surprisingly perhaps as Centre Court has 15,000 seats.

“That explains everything. Nobody could come. I couldn’t even invite one of my best friends, who was there. Two tickets on the outside court, it’s too little,” she said.

“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.”

The US Open and Australian Open were fairer, according to Cornet, but she said the best way to receive priority treatment was to climb higher up the rankings.

“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,” she said.

“Of course you’re a bit more comfortable when you’re a better player, but that’s how society works. The better you are, the more advantage you get. That’s how it works.”

Reuters has contacted the Wimbledon organisers for comment.

Cornet’s injury due to her slip was one of several high-profile tumbles in the first week of the Grand Slam, though Wimbledon tournament director Jamie Baker said on Friday the grass courts were “good and grippy”.

Two-time champion Andy Murray

had a nasty fall on Centre Court

in his match against Stefanos Tsitsipas, while US veteran Venus Williams fell heavily in her first-round defeat by Elina Svitolina also on Centre Court on Monday, hurting her already-bandaged right knee.

“I was literally killing it, then I got killed by the grass,” said the 43-year-old five-time champion.

Novak Djokovic’s match on the same day was delayed for nearly 90 minutes due to a damp court.

However, Baker said players had not expressed concerns over the state of the grass at the Grand Slam, which has been disrupted by rain.

“I’m really happy. The surface is as good and as grippy in the early part of the tournament,” he said.

“There has been a handful of slips, but there really hasn’t been many at all.

“Andy obviously slipped last night at the end, but those instances actually could happen in the final just as much as at the start and particularly as we’ve had the roof on a lot.” REUTERS, AFP