07 July 2023 , 10:52
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French star Alize Cornet has criticised Wimbledon's rules on tickets after suffering a second-round defeat to Elena Rybakina.
The defending women's singles champion won in straight sets on Thursday after Cornet suffered a knee injury that left her in tears on Centre Court. With that complaint, the 33-year-old could do little to stop Rybakina from marching into the third round at SW19.
Cornet didn't dispute her loss to Rybakina, 24, during her post-match press conference but wasn't happy with the amount of tickets she received for her opening round victory against Nao Hibino. The veteran was given just two tickets for the Court 10 clash.
"For me the biggest issue on this tournament was, yeah, the difference between today I played on Centre Court, and I had basically 40 tickets to give away," Cornet explained on Thursday evening. "On my first round, I had two. That explains everything.
"Nobody could come. I couldn't even invite like one of my best friends who was there. Two tickets on the outside court, it's too little. Then you have a huge gap and you get 40 when you play on Centre Court.
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"You need to give a little more credit to players that play on the outside courts. This tournament exists because of all the players, not only the ones that play on the big courts."
World No.72 Cornet went on to compare Wimbledon's ticketing system to the US Open's. She said: "It's better [in the US]. No, the biggest gap is here in Wimbledon. In the other tournaments, you get like four, six, you know, at least a little bit to invite your friends.
"So every year I'm thinking the same, I'm like, yeah, if you want to - everybody is asking me for tickets. If the schedule puts me on Court 10, I cannot give you anything. It's a shame, but it's the rule."
Wimbledon's ticketing system for paying punters has also come under scrutiny this year. Fans faced huge queues on Monday, the opening day of the tournament, with Wimbledon's operations director Michelle Dite issuing an apology.
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"We’ve reallocated some resources in different places, and we’re ready to go," said Dite on Tuesday. "We’re confident, having reflected on what happened yesterday. We’re sorry that there were a number of people that were in that queue for a long time."
Wimbledon chiefs were also forced to dish out £250,000 worth of refunds after outdoor courts were closed due to the rain on Tuesday and Wednesday. Furthermore, the tournament was disrupted by after Just Stop Oil activists ran onto Court 18 on Monday.
Just Stop Oil claimed afterwards: "Monday was the hottest day ever globally... until Tuesday. And yet our government is still licensing new oil and gas, sentencing millions to death with their genocidal actions. It's time to pick a side."