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.

Ane Mintegi del Olmo Becomes First Spanish Player to Win Wimbledon Girls’ Singles Title

Posted on July 12, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Ane Mintegi del Olmo has made junior tennis history…

The 17-year-old Spanish tennis player has added her name to the list of junior Grand Slam champions at Wimbledon, making history for her home country in the process.

Mintegi del Olmo outlasted fellow 17-year-old Nastasja Schunk of Germany, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, becoming the first Spaniard to claim the girls’ singles tite champion’s trophy on No.1 Court, fighting back from a set and a break down to outlast Schunk and notch her first junior Grand Slam title.

Mintegi del Olmo won nearly half of the points returning Schunk’s second serve, helping her attain one more service break than her opponent to pull off the come-from-behind victory.

The aggressive play of left-handed Schunk garnered her an 82 percent success rate at net, but the German was undone by 41 unforced errors, compared to just 24 from Mintegi del Olmo.

“The first set, [Schunk] played incredible,” Mintegi del Olmo. “I have nothing to say. She played very good the first set. Then I served better in the second set, and in the third set I play very well. But she played very well.”

At the outset of the match, strong passes intermixed with powerful forehands to help Schunk build an early 3-1 lead. Schunk then broke at love to lead 5-2 and serve for the set, where Mintegi del Olmo fended off two set points and used stellar depth of shot to reach break point. Schunk used her lefty forehand to grit out a hold and a one-set lead.

“In the first set I’m a little bit nervous, but slowly, slowly when I finish the first set, the [nerves] go down and I start playing better,” Mintegi del Olmo said.

Despite dropping the opening game of the second set, Mintegi del Olmo continued to show off improving form, and quickly struck back for 1-1. Mintegi del Olmo used a variety of weights on her shots and superb defense to draw an increasing number of errors from Schunk, and the Spaniard moved ahead 5-3 after firing a strong return to break Schunk.

Serving for the second set, Mintegi del Olmo lost control of her shots to drop serve, but the Spaniard got a bigger opportunity in the next game when Schunk fell behind 0-40, queuing up triple set point. On her second set point, Mintegi del Olmo came out on top in a rally, and the match was leveled at one set apiece.

After saving two break points at 1-1, Mintegi del Olmo took control, using spins and well-timed service winners to reel off the final five games of the affair. A passing winner gave Mintegi del Olmo a 5-1 lead and the chance to serve for the match, and though Schunk used her power game to erase four match points, Mintegi del Olmo converted her fifth to break new ground for Spain.

Both of the junior finalists have already started to make waves at WTA events this season. Mintegi del Olmo pushed former Top 10 player Kristina Mladenovic to a final-set tiebreak in Madrid qualifying. Schunk won two matches to qualify for the Stuttgart main draw on home soil, before falling to Belinda Bencic in her WTA main-draw debut.

https://twitter.com/Wimbledon/status/1414253786697289732

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.

Puig Reaches Eastbourne International Semifinals

Posted on June 24, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Monica Puig is more than qualified…

The 22-year-old Puerto Rican tennis player has became the first qualifier to reach the Eastbourne International semifinals in three years.

It took Puig nearly three hours to get there on Thursday, but she managed to get it done.

Puig needed 2 hours, 43 minutes to overcome Kristina Mladenovic of France 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-3, and become the first qualifier in the semis since American Jamie Hampton in 2013.

Both players struggled to hold serve, with Puig facing 23 break points in the match and Mladenovic 13.

Mladenovic broke three times in the opening set and led 5-4, but each time allowed her opponent to break back in the following game before failing to convert a set point in the tiebreaker.

In the second set, Mladenovic also failed to win three set points at 5-2 and to serve out the set at 5-3 before breaking in the 10th game. In the final set, Puig broke in the first and final games to secure victory.

“We were both putting so much pressure on each other’s serves,” Puig said. “So it was just staying mentally tough.”

Garcia Reaches Her First Career Grass-Court Final at the Mallorca Open

Posted on June 19, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a new first for Caroline Garcia…

The 22-year-old part-Spanish tennis player advanced to her first grass-court final by beating Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 on Saturday at the Mallorca Open.

Garcia, the tournament’s No. 6 seed, had seven aces and won 84 percent of first-service points against Flipkens, a 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist.

In the final, Garcia will face Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia, who defeated second-seeded Jelena Jankovic in the other semifinal, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Garcia has been on a roll in recent weeks, winning her first title of the year on clay at Strasbourg and then teaming with Kristina Mladenovic to capture the French Open doubles title, her first Grand Slam title.

Garcia & Kristina Mladenovic Win French Open Women’s Doubles Title

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia is a Grand Slam champion…

The 22-year-old part-Spanish tennis player and her partner Kristina Mladenovic gave the Paris crowd a home victory to cheer as they won the women’s doubles title at the French Open.

The French duo, seeded seventh, beat Russian fifth seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-3 2-6 6-4.

The rare triumph for the home nation gives Garcia and Mladenovic their first Grand Slam title, having only teamed up this year with a target of playing at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

They have now won titles in Charleston, Stuttgart, Madrid and Paris.

The last French victors in women’s doubles in the clay-court major at Roland Garros were Gail Chanfreau and Francoise Durr, who won in 1970 and then defended their title the following year.

“So there are the big tournaments that we have already won, which is a good success in itself, but winning a Grand Slam, and here in Roland Garros, it’s 10 steps above what is logical or normal,” Mladenovic said. “To win here with Caroline at Roland Garros, it’s incredible.”

Mladenovic and Garcia, who have lost just one match together on clay this season, got off to a bright start and built a 5-0 lead.

Makarova and Vesnina fought hard and saved six set points before Mladenovic served out the opener. But a change in the momentum saw the Russians take control of the match as they leveled it by taking the second set.

Mladenovic and Garcia kept their composure as pressure mounted toward the end of the decider, winning 12 of the last 15 points.

Garcia Reaches Women’s Doubles Final at the French Open

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia has reached her first Grand Slam women’s doubles final…

The 22-year-old part-Spanish tennis player and her partner Kristina Mladenovic beat Margarita Gasparyan and Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in Friday’s semifinal at the French Open.

The all-French team, the obvious local favorites at Roland Garros, will face off against Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina of Russia in the final.

Last year, Garcia reached the third round at the French Open with then partner Katarina Srebotnik.

But this year, Garcia and Mladenovic won the women’s doubles title at the Mutua Madrid Open, defeating the No. 1 seeded team of Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza in the final, 6–4, 6–4.

Garcia Outlasts Virginie Razzano to Reach Strasbourg Final

Posted on May 20, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia is looking to double up on her career WTA singles titles…

The 22-year-old half-Spanish tennis player, who currently has one title under belt, outlasted France’s Virginie Razzano in an epic encounter to reach the final of the Internationaux de Strasbourg tournament.

Leading 5-3 in the final set Garcia looked on course to close out the match in relative comfort. But, Razzano ensured a dramatic finish by breaking back in the next game before eventually succumbing, 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-5.

“It feels great. I’ve watched Virginie for as long as I can remember,” Garcia said. “She’s a great player and a bit of an idol, so to not only play her but beat her was an amazing experience.

“It’s important for my confidence to get wins like this and in finals, especially ahead of Roland Garros next week. It was a fighting performance. Losing that first set was tough but I came back and got through.”

Garcia will face qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who dismantled No.4 seed Kristina Mladenovic, 6-1, 6-1, in exactly an hour.

Garcia has won all three of her previous meetings with Lucic-Baroni, including a match earlier this year in Miami.

This is Garcia’s first WTA singles final of the year, her fourth overall.

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