MY ACCOUNT
Alize Cornet claims several players contracted COVID-19 at last month’s French Open, but kept the outbreak quiet in order to avoid mass withdrawals from the tournament.
Wimbledon has already been rocked by two high-profile male players withdrawing after testing positive for the virus, with last year’s runner-up Matteo Berrettini and 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic both pulling out ahead of scheduled first-round matches on Tuesday.
Now Cornet, who equalled Ai Sugiyama’s all-time record of 62 consecutive grand slam main-draw appearances in a win over Yulia Putintseva on day two, claims there were cases at Roland Garros that did not come to light.
“At Roland Garros, there was a Covid epidemic, no one talked about it. In the locker room, everyone got it and we said nothing,” she told L’Equipe.
“When it comes out in the press, with big players, it will start to set fire to the lake everywhere and that worries me a little.
“[2021 French Open winner Barbora] Krejcikova withdrew saying she had Covid, and the whole locker room was sick.
“At some point, we all might have had the flu. The thing is, we have the symptoms, itchy throat… we play and everything is fine, it’s fine.
“At Roland, I think there have been a few cases and it’s a tacit agreement between us. We are not going to self-test to get into trouble!
“Afterwards, I saw girls wearing masks, maybe because they knew and didn’t want to pass it on. You also have to have a civic spirit.”
