Player of the Day: Alize Cornet

MATCH POINT: Alize Cornet (FRA) def. Garbine Muguruza (SPA) in the 2022 Australian Open.

France’s Alize Cornet pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the first week when she cruised past 2020 finalist Garbine Muguruza to reach the third round.

It wasn’t just that Cornet took down the two-time Grand Slam winner—after all, she’s done it twice before—but it was in the way that she did it. The 31-year-old never faced a break point as she fired 17 winners past Muguruza in her 6-3, 6-3 victory.

Muguruza had no answer for the Frenchwoman’s baseline aggression, and the world No. 61 needed just 87 minutes to stun the Spaniard and record her 10th career win over a Top 5 player.

"In two days it's my birthday, so I think that is the best gift I can give to myself,” Cornet said, grinning during her on-court interview.

"Hopefully my experience can help me in the next round—even though I have no idea who I will be playing because when I saw the draw I stopped at Garbine.”

Spoiler alert: she will next face No. 29 seed Tamara Zidansek for the first time. Cornet is seeking to return to the fourth round at the Australian Open for just the second time and the first since 2009.