In November 2022, Caroline Garcia won the Masters in Forth Worth (Texas) and completed a dream season which saw her go from 76th to 4th place in the world. Enough to approach the following year with full confidence and ambition. At the beginning of January, the Frenchwoman is not afraid to announce her goal: “This year, or in the next two years, it’s about trying to go all the way, to win a Grand Slam. »
But after months without convincing results, “Caro” is approaching the last part of the season, which had been so successful for him last year (title in Cincinnati and at the Masters, semi-final at the US Open) with the sole objective of regain the confidence it has been chasing since the start of the year.
Ups and downs in the first trimester
At the Australian Open, for the first Grand Slam of the year, Caroline Garcia was beaten in the round of 16 (7-6, 6-4) by the Polish Magda Linette, then 45th player in the world. “I had a hard time controlling my emotions, controlling them and putting my game in place,” analyzes the Frenchwoman after her defeat.
First disappointment of the season for Caroline Garcia, eliminated in the round of 16 of the Australian Open. (M. Frey/Sports Press)
The disappointments followed in the months that followed, despite two finals played… and both lost, at home in February, in Lyon, against the young 22-year-old American Alycia Parks (7-6, 7-5) and against the Croatian Donna Vekic (6-4, 3-6, 7-5), in March, at the Monterrey tournament (Mexico).
Eliminated twice in a row by Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, first in the round of 16 in Indian Wells (6-4, 4-6, 7-5) then in the first round in Miami (6-2, 6-3) , Caroline Garcia draws up an unsatisfactory assessment of this first quarter: “There are a lot of disappointments, it’s been several matches that have hurt me really badly in a fairly short time and that’s hard. »
A nightmarish passage on clay
Despite the return to her side of Bertrand Perret, the coach who had helped her find the highest level in 2022, five months after their separation, Caroline Garcia is going through the season on clay like a shadow.
The French is overwhelmed by her emotions, as during her elimination in the third round of Madrid against the Egyptian Mayar Sherif (7-6, 6-3). “I get angry and I get frustrated too quickly”, she acknowledges. After her defeat in Rome, again in the round of 16 (6-4, 6-4), against the 100th world player Camila Osorio, she cannot hold back her tears at a press conference, confident of living ” a nightmare “ on the court.
The month of May ended with a premature exit at Roland-Garros, in the second round, against the Russian Anna Blinkova (4-6, 6-3, 7-5). “I am human, I have emotions. Today was not up to par, like the past few weeks,” notes the Lyonnaise, bitter.
Beaten in the second round at Roland-Garros, Caroline Garcia has had a nightmare on clay this season. (N. Luttiau/The Team)
Still lacking results on grass
happy with “to start again on a blank page” on grass, the French saw her hopes dwindle at the Eastbourne tournament (England), where she abandoned in the quarter-finals, injured in a shoulder. At Wimbledon, she lost in the third round against the Czech Marie Bouzkova (7-6, 4-6, 7-5), despite a break in the lead in the third set.
“Tennis makes me experience my greatest and my worst emotions at the same time. It’s a relationship of love and hate all the time. »
Caroline Garcia, after her defeat in the third round of Wimbledon
Confidence at an all-time low in North America
” It’s getting worse. » Last week, in Washington, the French could not hide her frustration and lost in the first round, without existing against the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk (6-2, 6-3), with a game as aggressive as hers.
Don’t worry about rankings, seek “to do things better, differently, thinking about the present moment” : this is Caroline Garcia’s goal when she arrives in Montreal. But again, she did not pass the first round, released once again by Marie Bouzkova, her pet peeve (6-4, 4-6, 6-2). On the court, she appears overwhelmed, even missing being disqualified after sending a ball into the net which then grazes the head of a collector.
A risk of plummeting in the world rankings
Unless there is an improbable change in dynamics in the coming weeks, “Caro” should fall in the WTA rankings, she who is defending champion in Cincinnati (930 points to defend) and had reached the semi-finals of the US Open. last year (780 points). In one month, the French put into play more than a third of her total points.
In the event of premature exits in the two American tournaments, Caroline Garcia would see her total points reduced to 2,975 units and would find herself at the gates of the world top 10, in which she has appeared since September 12, 2022 (she is currently 6th).
Ranked 19th in the WTA Race, which only takes into account the tournaments played during the current year, Caroline Garcia is 725 points behind the provisional 8th place occupied by the Czech Petra Kvitova. She will have to limit the breakage by the end of the North American tour to keep the hope of competing in the Masters and defending her title acquired last year, when success and confidence were on her side.
