Caroline Garcia Defeats Coco Gauff at US Open to Reach First-Ever Grand Slam Semifinal

Posted on September 7, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia is celebrating a special first…

The 28-year-old part-Spanish French tennis player defeated Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-4 at the US Open to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal.

Garcia, the tournament’s 17th seed, produced a clinical display to beat the 18-year-old 12th seed.

The in-form Garcia has yet to drop a set at Flushing Meadows, with this her 13th successive win in a streak that included her claiming her first WTA 1000 win in five years at Cincinnati.

In only her second major quarterfinal – and first since the 2017 French Open – Garcia immediately put Gauff on the back foot on Arthur Ashe Stadium and rarely relented.

Making her 42nd Grand Slam appearance, Garcia unsettled her opponent and subdued the home crowd with a fast start in which she quickly established a 4-0 lead with a second break of serve.

Contesting her first quarterfinal at her home Slam, Gauff hit back in the fifth game but the damage had already been done. Garcia punched the air as she went on to clinch her first set point on serve after 45 minutes.

The teenager was bidding to become the youngest American woman to reach the last four in New York since Serena Williams did so aged 17 in 1999.

However, her task was made even tougher as she lost her serve in the opening game of the second set.

Willed on by the crowd, Gauff – set to make her top-10 debut after the tournament – saved two break points when trailing 3-1 but crucially she was unable to take an opportunity of her own in the following game.

Garcia dropped her racquet and held her hands up in disbelief as Gauff netted on the first match point to make her the first Frenchwoman to reach the last four since Amelie Mauresmo in 2006.

Garcia will meet Ons Jabeur for a place in the US Open final.

Caroline Garcia Defeats Petra Kvitova to Claim Western & Southern Open Title

Posted on August 21, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia has completed a historic run…

The 28-year-old part-Spanish French tennis player has generated momentum going into next week’s US Open by winning the Western & Southern Open women’s tennis championship with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Petra Kvitova on Sunday.

Garcia, already the first qualifier to reach the tournament final, clinched the victory when Kvitova sent a second-serve return into the net. Garcia dropped to her knees and lay on her back on the court after the final point.

“It’s hard to believe I’m standing here today,” Garcia said in her postmatch speech to the crowd. “It’s been such a week.”

Garcia went into Sunday’s match with a WTA Tour-leading 25 wins since June.

“Every single win is important. Every single title is very special,” Garcia said. “It’s always very hard to describe it. It’s not happening so often, and you have to really like enjoy it. I’m really grateful for this great week of tennis, and to win another title, it’s very special.”

The 28th-ranked Kvitova and 35th-ranked Garcia both shook off first-round losses the previous week in Toronto to make their first appearances in a Cincinnati final.

“Definitely not the result I wanted, but … I have to take it like this and see the positive things,” Kvitova said. “I know it’s hurting right now, but on the other side, I have to see it like overall and be proud on my 40th final of my career.”

Garcia broke her Czech opponent in the first game and raced to a 4-0 lead. Garcia also gained an early edge with a first-game break in the second set.

“It’s been such a crazy road the last couple of weeks, but I’ve really enjoyed it,” Garcia said. “[Let’s] keep it going.”

Kvitova left the court for treatment of an injury after falling behind 2-0 in the second set. She looked sharper after returning but couldn’t overcome the early break.

Caroline Garcia Defeats Ana Bogdan in Poland Open Final to Claim Ninth WTA Career Title

Posted on July 31, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia is celebrating another title…

The 28-year-old Spanish-French tennis player beat Ana Bogdan 6-4, 6-1 on Sunday to win the Poland Open to claim her ninth WTA title.

It’s the second trophy of the year for Garcia, along with one at the grass-court Bad Homburg Open, which was her first title in three years.

Garcia could rely more on her serve in her 12th career final. Garcia won 72% of her first-service points, compared to 47% by Bogdan, who was playing in her first final.

The former fourth-ranked Garcia has won 18 of her past 21 matches.

In Warsaw, she upset top-ranked Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals, ending her clay-court winning streak at 18 matches.

With the victory, Garcia improved to 2-0 against her Romanian opponent.

Caroline Garcia Defeats Jasmine Paolini to Reach Poland Open Final

Posted on July 30, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia is one step closer her ninth WTA title…

The Spanish-French tennis player defeated Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 6-2 at the Poland Open on Saturday to advance to her 12th career final, where she will face Ana Bogdan.

Garcia will seek her ninth career WTA title and second this year after winning the grass-court Bad Homburg Open.

Garcia, who a day earlier ended top-ranked Iga Swiatek‘s clay-court winning streak, broke her 10th-seeded Italian opponent four times to improve to 3-0 against her.

The former world No. 4 served six aces on a rainy day in Warsaw en route to her 17th win in her past 20 matches.

Bogdan reached her first career WTA final by defeating Kateryna Baindl of Ukraine 7-5, 7-5.

Caroline Garcia Defeats Emma Raducanu to Reach Third Round at Wimbledon

Posted on June 29, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia is on to the next…

The 28-year-old half-Spanish tennis player ousted Emma Raducanu in the second round of women’s singles play at Wimbledon, beating the British No. 1 and reigning US Open champion 6-3, 6-3 in 86 minutes on Centre Court.

Garcia, ranked 55th in the world, gave Raducanu her third second-round loss in a row at this year’s Grand Slams.

Garcia proved to be too much for Raducanu, breaking her serve twice en route to winning the first set. Garcia then broke Raducanu’s serve to make it 3-2 in the second, only for Raducanu to break back in the next game. But the parity did not last long as Garcia broke Raducanu’s serve again in the following game and then held her own to go 5-3 up.

The crowd continued to get behind Raducanu as she went to serve to stay in the match, but Garcia needed only one match point to book her spot in the second round as she broke Raducanu’s serve for the fifth time.

For Garcia, this triumph means she’s started her Wimbledon single’s campaign with back-to-back victories over British hopefuls, after she needed three sets to get past Yuriko Miyazaki on Monday in the opening round.

Garcia, whose best record at a Slam was her quarterfinal finish in the 2017 French Open, now faces No. 33 seed Shuai Zhang in the third round on Friday.

Caroline Garcia Outlasts Bianca Andreescu at Bad Homburg Open to Win First WTA Title in Three Years

Posted on June 26, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia is back in the winner’s circle…

The 28-year-old half-Spanish French tennis player outlasted 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday in the final of the Bad Homburg Open, giving her a first tour title in three years.

Garcia had to come back from a set and a break down to beat her opponent.

Garcia took a medical timeout for what seemed to be a shoulder problem early in the second set. She then went 4-2 down before winning 10 of the next 14 games to seal the match ahead of the start of Wimbledon on Monday.

“It was a fight [for] every point from the first to the last one,” Garcia said.

Garcia is 8-3 in career finals but her last title was almost exactly three years ago in Nottingham in the build-up to the 2019 Wimbledon tournament.

Andreescu was looking for her first title since beating Serena Williams in the 2019 final at Flushing Meadows before injuries forced her to miss the entire 2020 season.

Caroline Garcia Defeats Alizé Cornet to Reach Bad Homburg Open

Posted on June 24, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia is vying for her eighth WTA title…

The 28-year-old half-Spanish French tennis player outlasted Alizé Cornet 7-6 (9), 3-6, 7-5 to reach the Bad Homburg Open final.

Garcia had to spend close to three hours on court to beat her compatriot.

Garcia saved match point at 5-4 down in the deciding set before winning the next three games as Cornet struggled with an apparent right leg injury, which restricted her movement.

Garcia, currently ranked No. 75 in the world, will face Bianca Andreescu in the final.

Andreescu advanced after Simona Halep withdrew ahead of their semifinal match.

Andreescu and Garcia have not met before.

It’s Garcias’s first WTA final since 2019.

Caroline Garcia & Teammate Kristina Mladenovic Earn Second French Open Women’s Doubles Title

Posted on June 5, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Six years later, Caroline Garcia is once again a French Open women’s doubles champion…

The 28-year-old part-Spanish French player and her compatriot Kristina Mladenovic produced an impressive comeback in the French Open women’s doubles final to lift their first team title since 2016.

In the French Open women’s doubles final, home favorites Garcia and Mladenovic recovered from a slow start to beat USA’s Cori Gauff and Jessica Pegula 2-6 6-3 6-2.

Garcia and Mladenovic, who lifted their first Grand Slam team title at Roland Garros in 2016, have now won their fifth team title. In 2016, Garcia and Mladenovic lifted four team titles. Six years after winning their first Grand Slam title as a pair, Garcia and Mladenovic teamed up again at Roland Garros.

Garcia and Mladenovic made it all the way once again and now they are 12-0 as a pair at Roland Garros.

Garcia and Mladenovic had the first break points of the match but they missed out on a total of five break points in the second game.

Garcia and Mladenovic paid the price for not closing in on their break points chances as Gauff and Pegula claimed the first break of the match in the third game to open a 2-1 lead. Garcia and Mladenovic missed out on two more break points in the sixth game, before Gauff and Pegula earned their second break in the seventh game to open a 5-2 lead.

In the eighth game, Gauff and Pegula routinely served out for the first set. After losing the first set, Garcia and Mladenovic bounced back at the start of the second set as they claimed back-to-back breaks and opened a 4-0 lead.

Gauff and Pegula refused to quit as they responded with back-to-back breaks and cut the deficit to 3-4. Blowing a two-break lead didn’t impact Garcia and Mladenovic, who earned their third break of the set in the eighth game, before serving out for a decider in the following game.

Gauff and Pegula were visibly down after losing the second set as Garcia and Mladenovic took the advantage of it and opened a 4-0 lead in the third set. Two breaks of serve were more than enough for Garcia and Mladenovic as they served out the eighth game to complete a big comeback win.

Leylah Fernandez to Compete at This Year’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals

Posted on October 4, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Leylah Fernandez is gearin’ up for a special cup…

The 19-year-old half-Ecuadorian Canadian tennis sensation and U.S. Open finalist is among the players named to the 12 teams at next month’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

Fernandez will play for Canada in the competition.

But she isn’t the only Latina set to play in the Cup.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Garbiñe Muguruza will play for Spain along with Carla Suarez Navarro.

Meanwhile, Caroline Garcia is set to play for defending champion France, alongside her teammates Alize Cornet and Fiona Ferro, who were all part of the group that won the event in 2019. The 2020 edition was called off because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Matches will be played in Prague on Nov. 1-6.

The host Czech Republic will be led by 2021 French Open singles and doubles champion Barbora Krejcikova.

She is joined by Marketa Vondrousova, the 2019 French Open runner-up and the 2020 Tokyo Games singles silver medalist, and Katerina Siniakova, who was Krejcikova’s doubles partner for three Grand Slam doubles titles and a gold medal at the Summer Games.

Sloane Stephens is joined by Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins, CoCo Vandeweghe and Caroline Dolehide on the U.S. roster.

Caroline Garcia Helps Lead France to Fed Cup Title

Posted on November 11, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia is a Fed Cup champion at last…

The 26-year-old part-Spanish player, who played an integral part in France’s appearance at the Fed Cup finals in 2016, and her doubles partner Kristina Mladenovic, prevailed in the doubles decider to claim a 3-2 victory over Australia in Perth.

Garcia and Mladenovic, who won the women’s doubles title together at the French Openin 2016, proved too good for world No. 1 singles player Ashleigh Barty and Samantha Stosur, cruising to a 6-4 6-3 victory on Sunday to secure the nation’s third Fed Cup crown and first since 2003.

Mladenovic earlier stunned Barty 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) in an epic two-and-a-half hour singles battle at RAC Arena to put France ahead in the best-of-five rubbers final.

French No.1 Mladenovic’s phenomenal weekend, which also included a straight-sets drubbing of Ajla Tomljanovic, proved to be the difference between the two nations.

Mladenovic and Garcia were clinical in the deciding rubber.

Australia managed to save two championship points but it was only a matter of time before Mladenovic fittingly served out the match.

It was sweet redemption for Mladenovic and Garcia, who lost the deciding doubles rubber to the Czech Republicin the 2016 Fed Cup final.

“It’s lots of emotion to share this with Caro after three years ago we failed on the last step of the tie,” Mladenovic said.

“Today we just wanted to take this little revenge for ourselves and it’s just not describable how we feel right now.”

Playing for France at the Fed Cup, Garcia was previously awarded a Heart Awardfor her sportsmanship, after leading her country to the 2016 Fed Cup final, France’s first final since 2005.

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