Alizé Cornet Officially Announces Retirement from Professional Tennis

Alizé Cornet has officially closed the curtain on her tennis career—this time, she insists, for good.

The 35-year-old French veteran, once ranked as high as world No. 11, announced her permanent retirement from professional tennis this week, following a brief comeback in 2025. After receiving an emotional send-off at Roland Garros in 2024, Cornet returned to the court earlier this year for what she called a “last dance,” inspired in part by her stint on the French reality TV show The Traitors.

In a reflective Instagram post, Cornet shared a photo of herself in San Sebastian, the scenic Spanish city where she played her final tournament earlier this month.

“Reflecting on my time in San Sebastian and the end (for real this time) of a chapter as a player,” she wrote. “Couldn’t dream of a better place than this beautiful city to definitely turn the page and start writing others, in every sense of the word.”

Cornet went 4-6 during her brief return to the tour, competing in WTA 125 events and tour-level qualifiers. Her final match came in a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch.

At Wimbledon earlier this summer, Cornet explained her decision to rejoin the circuit, saying she wanted to “close the loop” by playing qualifying on the same grass courts where she made her main-draw debut as a lucky loser back in 2007.

“It’s the perfect last chapter,” she said at the time. “This would be the actual perfect ending. Here.”

A gifted competitor and fan favorite, Cornet retires not just as a seasoned player but also as a published author—having penned three books during her career. Now, she turns the page toward life beyond the baseline, ready to write the next chapter—literally and figuratively.