After her defeat in the first round of the San Sebastián Challenger, Alizé Cornet announces the end of her professional playing career via a message posted on her Instagram account. A real chapter closes for the Nice native, who is leaving the circuit for good after more than 18 years at the highest level.
This time, it’s for real. Last March, the Nice native announced her return to her former activity on the occasion of the WTA 250 in Rouen. She even resumed as early as the WTA 125 in La Bisbal d’Emporda in Spain, a week earlier. It seemed that this chapter was not entirely closed. After 11 matches and a first-round defeat at the San Sebastián Challenger against the German Tamara Korpatsch (6-3, 6-2), Alizé Cornet decided to permanently end her professional playing career. In an Instagram post, the Nice native retraces her final tennis adventure on Spanish soil. “A little flashback on a wonderful stay in San Sebastián and the closure (for good this time) of this playing chapter. A beautiful place to turn the page for good and start writing new chapters, in every sense of the term,” she wrote in the caption of her latest Instagram publication.
A figure of French tennis
Retired for the first time in May 2024 at Roland-Garros, and then a second time in San Sebastián in September 2025, Alizé Cornet will remain a major figure in French women’s tennis. Her record, longevity, fighting spirit, and achievements make her career absolutely remarkable. The Nice native won six titles on the main WTA circuit, the first in Budapest in 2008 and the last ten years later in Gstaad, in 2018. She also claimed victories at two other clay tournaments at Bad Gastein (2012) and Strasbourg (2013). Before triumphing on indoor hard courts at Katowice (2014) and on outdoor hard courts in Hobart (2016). Alizé Cornet was perceived as a very difficult player to face during a Grand Slam. She boasts 25 victories against top 10 players, including four against an incumbent world No. 1. Serena Williams three times, plus Iga Swiatek, then world number one at Wimbledon in 2022. Additionally, Alizé Cornet holds the women’s record for consecutive Grand Slam tournament appearances. With 69 consecutive tournaments between the Australian Open 2007 and Roland-Garros 2024, the Nice native surpasses the previous record holder, Japanese Ai Sugiyama.
What’s next for Alizé Cornet?
As though it’s déjà vu, Alizé Cornet finds herself in a position she once experienced in May 2024, when she announced her first retirement. With her role as a consultant during the last Roland-Garros on France Télévisions, she might have found her future path. Her insightful game analysis and critical gaze had impressed viewers.
In recent years, the former player also started a career as a novelist. She published her first two novels in 2022 (La Valse des Jours, Flammarion), and in 2024 (Ce qui manque à l’Amour, Albin-Michel). However, the Nice native will be able to enjoy one last dance as a tennis player. Indeed, the Luxembourg Ladies Tennis Masters has completed the lineup for its 4th edition, to be held from October 9 to 12, 2025. This colorful tournament brings together former stars of world tennis. Among them, Anett Kontaveit, 2023 winner, the German Angelique Kerber, and recently Alizé Cornet.
At 35 years old, she leaves behind an exemplary career and prepares to write new chapters of her life. This time, it’s truly the end, but certainly not a farewell to the public scene.
