It's like a romantic relationship: when you get back into it, you realize not everything was perfect": Cornet candidly explains her decision to return to competition

Alizé Cornet came out of retirement at the beginning of April without a clear goal in mind, other than to enjoy herself and rediscover the feelings she missed in the months following her initial retirement.

Eliminated decisively by Marie Bouzkova (6-2, 6-1) in Strasbourg on Monday, Cornet appeared at a press conference and took the time to discuss her choice to return to the tour:

"I felt like trying to come back to enjoy myself on the court, to have a less toxic relationship with tennis. I wanted to see what it was like to play with less pressure on my shoulders, since I have no expectations regarding my results or the race for rankings.

Now that I'm back, there isn’t much I miss! But you only realize that when you return. It’s like a romantic relationship—after a few years, you only remember the good times, but when you dive back in, you realize not everything was perfect. Everything happening to me right now reminds me why I stopped in the first place.

But what I truly missed was competition—playing matches, pushing myself, experiencing emotions on the court. All those things that made me passionate for twenty years."

When asked about her ten months away from tennis, the 35-year-old player was frank:

"I didn’t come back to tennis because my life was boring without it. On the contrary, I can’t wait to stop again! I wanted to take on this challenge, to play for fun. I was a little frustrated by ending my career on a somewhat negative note.

But life without tennis is amazing. For one, I have time—which is a luxury. And I get to do so many things, work in different ways, and express other sides of my personality because I have talents beyond just playing tennis.

I’m also really happy with what I experienced during these months away, and the idea of post-career life doesn’t scare me at all anymore.