LDN - Sports

Fed Cup squabble overshadows home fans' joy

[June 05, 2017] By Julien Pretot

PARIS (Reuters) - With three local women having reached the fourth round, Roland Garros should be La La Land ahead of Alize Cornet's all-French clash with Caroline Garcia and a rare quarter-final spot at stake on Monday.

Yet, any smiles on the players' faces are through gritted teeth because the in-house drama of the Fed Cup team has resurfaced.

Garcia announced at the end of last season she would not compete in the 2017 Fed Cup, drawing criticism from Kristina Mladenovic, who said "the adventure is more beautiful with true people, those with values and who're ready to die on court and not be selfish."

Although she later said it was aimed at another player who would not play the Fed Cup, Oceane Dodin, Mladenovic, who has booked her place in the last eight here, ended her doubles relationship with Garcia in March.

Garcia, however, was then called up for a Fed Cup playoff against Spain. But she withdrew from the Stuttgart tournament citing injury a week later

That is when Mladenovic, Pauline Parmentier and Cornet all tweeted "LOL" in the space of three minutes.

That did not go down well with Garcia, who is not on speaking terms with Cornet.

"I received a text message but no apologies. She said she was still standing by her tweets, so I consider that it doesn't mean anything then," said Garcia.

[to top of second column]

Alize Cornet (FRA) celebrates match point during her match against Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) (not pictured) on day seven of the 2017 French Open tennis tournament at Stade Roland Garros. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

"I think that the relationship is not very good. I think she may have a grudge against us, so she's not ready to talk with me, so I don't think that it will be good to talk to her, because we are playing against each other," Cornet said.

"But one day I hope that she will tell me."

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Rex Gowar)

Back to top