<p>Paris: Seventh seed Zheng Qinwen powered past Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-1 and into the second round of the French Open on Tuesday, sending the Frenchwoman into retirement with a heavy defeat at her home Grand Slam, where she has featured for 20 straight years.</p><p>Cornet, holder of the Open era women's record for consecutive major main draw appearances, had previously announced that she would bring the curtain down on her career after the tournament.</p>.Au Revoir, King of Clay: Rafael Nadal bows out of French Open in opener against Alexander Zverev.<p>The 34-year-old will still compete in the women's doubles and mixed doubles events before she walks away from the sport after almost 20 years as a professional.</p><p>She gave it her all under the Court Philippe Chatrier roof on a rainy day in Paris but was no match for the Australian Open runner-up as she surrendered the opening set tamely and found herself a break down early in the next.</p><p>Zheng, who arrived at Roland Garros on the back of a run to the Rome quarterfinals and is bidding to claim her maiden major title, stepped up her game further to build a 5-1 lead before finishing the match off in style.</p><p>She hugged Cornet at the net as a small crowd at the main stadium rose to its feet and cheered for the local player.</p><p>Zheng will next face either American Ashlyn Krueger or Germany's Tamara Korpatsch. </p>
<p>Paris: Seventh seed Zheng Qinwen powered past Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-1 and into the second round of the French Open on Tuesday, sending the Frenchwoman into retirement with a heavy defeat at her home Grand Slam, where she has featured for 20 straight years.</p><p>Cornet, holder of the Open era women's record for consecutive major main draw appearances, had previously announced that she would bring the curtain down on her career after the tournament.</p>.Au Revoir, King of Clay: Rafael Nadal bows out of French Open in opener against Alexander Zverev.<p>The 34-year-old will still compete in the women's doubles and mixed doubles events before she walks away from the sport after almost 20 years as a professional.</p><p>She gave it her all under the Court Philippe Chatrier roof on a rainy day in Paris but was no match for the Australian Open runner-up as she surrendered the opening set tamely and found herself a break down early in the next.</p><p>Zheng, who arrived at Roland Garros on the back of a run to the Rome quarterfinals and is bidding to claim her maiden major title, stepped up her game further to build a 5-1 lead before finishing the match off in style.</p><p>She hugged Cornet at the net as a small crowd at the main stadium rose to its feet and cheered for the local player.</p><p>Zheng will next face either American Ashlyn Krueger or Germany's Tamara Korpatsch. </p>