Caroline Garcia falls from entry to Cincinnati where she was defending champion

Caroline Garcia falls from entry to Cincinnati where she was defending champion

We wanted to believe it. After a gloomy start to the American tour (entry elimination in Washington and Montreal), Caroline Garcia seemed to have eaten her black bread, affirming that everything she had feared since the start of the season had happened and that, in the end , it had not changed his life. Fears, however, remained a few, especially with the defense of the points of his title acquired here last year. The mission seemed almost impossible as the Frenchwoman was unable to build confidence that could take her far in the big tables, but we know that with her ultra-aggressive game, it only takes a little to do flip a match on the right side and kick off the move.

Alas, once again, the risk taking was not favorable to him. And for his third American tournament of the summer, Garcia recorded a cruel third defeat in a row. However, the first set had been convincing. If she was the first to have to defend break points, she held on and it was she who took the service of Sloane Stephens to lead 4-2. At 5-3 she was serving for the match and maybe that’s when her demons started to kick in. In need of first balls, she was broken by Stephens, an opponent she was wary of. “She does not have a ranking that reflects her level and we know that she is capable of making very big matches, especially in the United States. On hard, it is always dangerous. » But Garcia reacted superbly by rebreaking behind to win the first set. We thought the hardest part had been done. We were wrong, the hardest part was yet to come.

Very aggressive, Stephens took all the risks in return. And since Garcia could not serve, which peaked at 56% of first serves and only 45% of points behind her second serves, the American made the break to the delight of the public who were only waiting to see her favorite do drop the defending champion. In this lost service game, Garcia will still have saved 5 break points before giving in. A game where the drizzle will have appeared, without the referee interrupting the match as Garcia would have liked. “The ref didn’t want to stop too much, Sloane wasn’t too keen on continuing. We should have been clearer and said that we wanted to stop, but we also wanted to finish the game. It’s a shame because this game, it could have been important to keep it. regretted the French. This break, she was never going to be able to recover it and Stephens equalized at a set everywhere.

It remained to be seen whether Garcia would know how to react after this blow. A service game abandoned at the start of the third set did not bode well in this sense. Sloane Stephens was successful, especially on the lobs as soon as Garcia got too close to the net, while Garcia took too many risks. But the latter ended up paying with an authoritarian break to return to 4-4. Had the dynamic become French again? Alas, Stephen resumed his due in stride to serve for the match. His first match point, concluded at the net, was the good one. Caroline Garcia, she will now turn to the US Open where she will have to defend the points of her semi-final last year. With all the same some positive points in the suitcase. “Over the last 10 days, there has been a lot of progress in the game, the physical work and above all the attitude and the fighting spirit. »

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