"At Roland Garros, there was an epidemic of COVID-19 and nobody talked about it, everyone got it and we didn't say anything" - Alize Cornet makes shocking revelation amidst Wimbledon COVID scare
The second day of Wimbledon left tennis fans around the world disappointed after two male players ranked inside the top 20 were forced to pull out of the competition after testing positive for COVID-19.
Stuttgart Open and Queen's Club Champion Matteo Berrettini and French Open semifinalist Marin Cilic tested positive for the virus just hours before they were scheduled to play their first-round matches. There are major concerns for other players as the pair have been a part of the locker room and were seen practicing with the likes of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Alize Cornet was asked about the worrying situation in her press conference after her first-round victory, and the French No. 1 made a stunning revalation about a COVID-19 outbreak at the French Open.
"Covid has now returned to its morals. There have always been injuries and diseases. At Roland Garros, there was a Covid 19 epidemic and no one talked about it. In the locker room, everyone got it and we didn't say anything," Alize Cornet said.
Pretty explosive stuff from Alize Cornet, who says "everyone" at Roland Garros had Covid and there was a tacit agreement not to talk about it. https://t.co/bAn7rv260F
Cornet said that everyone had symptoms but there was a "tactical agreement" that they would not get tested.
"The whole dressing room was sick but Barbora Krejcikova was one of the few who withdrew. We all had symptoms like throat infection and mild fever, but we played through it. We had a tactical agreement between us to not get ourselves tested and get into shit. I saw girls wearing masks because they didn't want to pass it on, but I wouldn't like to add more to this," she said.
The World No. 37 also expressed concern for the "big players" once the press got hold of the news.
"When it comes out in press, on big players like that, it will start to set fire to the lake and that worries me a little," Cornet added.
Alize Cornet moves into 2nd round at Wimbledon
Alize Cornet came into Wimbledon on the back of a semi-final run at Bad Homburg. She lost her last-four encounter against Caroline Garcia in a hard-fought three-set match.
The Frenchwoman began her campaign at SW19 with a straight-sets win over Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva. Both players leaked errors in the opening half hour of the match, breaking each other's serve on multiple occasions. However, Cornet was the first to steady the ship, winning four games in a row to win the opening set.
Putintseva replied by securing an early break in the second set, but Cornet struck right back to take the next three games. The set was eventually decided by a tie-break, which Cornet won 7-5.
Cornet's best result at Wimbledon was reaching the Round of 16 in 2015. She will square off against Claire Liu in the second round on Thursday.