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Alize Cornet, 32, admits it's mind-boggling to her that she can't stay calm on the court even when she doesn't have a real reason to be stressed. On Friday, former world No. 11 Cornet suffered a three-set loss to Anna Kalinskaya in the Indian Wells Masters second round.
Kalinskaya, ranked at No. 90 in the world, handed a 6-4 0-6 6-2 loss to Cornet. After the loss, Cornet admitted to L'Equipe that she has been putting too much pressure on herself since her quarterfinal result at the Australian Open.
"It really makes me sweat to put myself in such a state on the court, to be so stressed when in Ukraine there is a war, that civilians are dying every day, that people are fleeing the country in complete panic. Me, I live the dream of my life in the paradise of tennis and I manage to be mega stressed...
There is a fight in my mind. It's been two, three weeks that the irrational side prevails. No matter how much I tell myself that there are more serious things in life, I still have my little problems that catch up with me. It is very frustrating," Cornet told L'Equipe.
Cornet on the Russia and Ukraine war
On Thursday, Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk called out the Russian players, insisting they're not doing enough. When it comes to Cornet, she feels Russian players are against the war as the majority of them have publicly called for peace.
Cornet wore a ribbon with the colors of Ukraine during her Indian Wells second round match as that was her way of showing solidarity with Ukraine. "The atmosphere has not changed too much in the locker room. We are all very affected by this story.
We get news from Ukrainian women, we ask them about their families. I think 99% of Russian players are against this war and have nothing to do with that sick Putin. Afterwards, I understand her words, saying that they should dare to demonstrate a little more against that. I do it on my side, at my little level. I think the world of sport is well mobilized," Cornet added.