World No. 2 Barbora Krejcikova pulled out from the WTA 1000 BNP Paribas Open, also known as the Indian Wells. The top-seeded player withdrew from the hard-court tournament after suffering an elbow injury. Even though Barbora’s withdrawal has come out to be a disappointment for the player as well as her fans, it has turned out to be an advantage for World No. 34 Alize Cornet.

The 32-year-old French, who was previously placed in the draw as an unseeded player, has now been given the 33rd seed, and the top spot of the draw.

However, happiness is not just restricted to her getting seeded. It comes with a further advantage. Cornet, who was initially tied with Croatia’s Ana Konjuh for a first-round match, has now been given a first-round bye and will start her tournament campaign from the second round.

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BNP Paribas Open took to their Twitter handle to make the announcement. They wrote, “World No. 2 Barbora Krejcikova has withdrawn from the BNP Paribas Open due to an elbow injury. As the next player in line to be seeded, Alize Cornet will move into Krejcikova’s spot in the draw.”

Alize Cornet at the Indian Wells

Alize Cornet has made ten appearances at the WTA 1000 BNP Paribas Open. She first played at the hard courts of Indian Wells in 2009. The then World No. 14 entered the tournament as the 11th-seed, getting a first-round bye. However, not used to the medium-slow pace of the courts of Indian Wells, Cornet suffered a second-round loss to German qualifier Kristina Barrois. She further faced a first-round exit at the 2010 Indian Wells.

Seeing a dip in rankings in 2011, Cornet had to go through the qualification rounds to enter the main draw as a qualifier. Even though she won the first two rounds with a decent performance, she was turned down in the third by the 5th seeded Francesca Schiavone. The French player lost in the qualifiers in 2012.

In 2013, she again suffered an early exit, experiencing a second-round loss to Caroline Wozniacki. Making a slight comeback in the following year, Cornet reached fourth in the 2014 Indian Wells. However, she faced a third-round exit in 2015.

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Skipping the 2016 and 2017 edition of Indian Wells, Alize made a comeback in 2018, experiencing a first-round loss. A similar result was seen in 2019, with Cornet losing to Ajla Tomljanovic. She last played at the Indian Wells in 2021, losing in the second round.

Do you think she will be able to go further in the tournament this time around? Let us know in the comments!