The most noticeable thing about Francesca Schiavone and Alize Cornet may be the level of fun they bring to the court. Schiavone more than most and Cornet, it often seems, not nearly enough. In the last game of their third-round match, Schiavone hit an easy overhead into the net, raised her hands as if in celebration and showed off that big smile. Meanwhile, after the first set, Cornet looked to be in tears.
Both players, and the fans who watched them, should be pleased with this match, which No. 5 seed Schiavone won 6-2, 6-3.
Schiavone did what she does well—move her opponent around with her one-handed backhand slice, get to more balls than you expect (with footwork you hardly notice), and finish off points at net, again and again. The volleys are nothing new, but they’re a pleasure to watch all the same. It’s not only that Schiavone gets up there and stays until she finishes the job, but also how she looks for the opportunity and when she gets it—or creates it, rather—how confidently she executes.
You get the sense Cornet is coming back, too. She took the offense at times but also moved well and played sufficient defense, “absolutely flinging herself around the corner” as one commentator put it. Yet she let the small stuff get to her, as she sometimes does. In the middle of the second set Cornet, displeased with the balls from the ballkids, hit them unhappily to the other side. “She’s looking for an excuse, and this is why she’s down to No. 70 in the world,” said the commentator. “She’s got the talent to be ranked a lot higher, but the temperament just gets in the way.”
Yet Cornet reacted better than you’d expect when Schiavone hit a ball that seemed to double-bounce but wasn’t called out. It was late in the second set and after that point, the commentator said of Cornet, “If she serves a double fault here, duck everybody.” Cornet didn’t hit a double fault, but she did end up losing that game.
Between them Schiavone and Cornet hit more than twice as many errors as winners, but many errors were forced. It was an entertaining match, owing to the rallies, variety and more.
These two have played each other seven times before, which seems like a lot considering Cornet is just 21. Cornet’s only win came the second time they played, in Rome in 2008. The one time they played in 2009, Cornet was ranked higher than Schiavone; it’s easy to forget Cornet was once ranked No. 11 (a career-high). The most memorable of their scores came in the first round of last year’s Australian Open, when Schiavone won 0-6, 7-5, 6-0. (That’s not quite a double bagel, but what is it? We see more of these whatever-they-are scores, and we might as well give them a proper name.)
Cornet, one of two qualifiers who remained in the draw, leaves having won a main-draw match at Indian Wells for the first time, and four straight tour matches for the first time since 2008.
Schiavone, the oldest player left in the draw, takes her 30-year-old self, her sense of fun and new coach Tathiana Garbin (based on what the commentators said) to the fourth round, where she’ll play Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or Shahar Peer.
—Bobby Chintapalli