It is with great desire that Caroline Garcia will start her US Open on Tuesday, but without great certainty of being able to repeat the course which had led her last year for the first time to the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament . The French number one, ranked 7th in the WTA, is going through a difficult period. Even if she has found her way to success in Cleveland, the Lyonnaise is not in the best mood before starting the last grand slam of the year.
“Last year was last year, this is the US Open 2023, the picture is different, it has nothing to do,” she asserts. “Tennis is always a blank page. You can take the confidence from the week before, but at the same time, you can have won a tournament and lost in the first round of the next one, you can have lost in the first round and win the tournament after”, develops the player 29 years old.
Last year, she had experienced the American tour like a tornado which had taken her to the heights by accumulating confidence: a title in Cincinnati, a half in New York and yet another title at the Masters at the end of the year which raised her to 4th in the world, the best ranking of her career already achieved in 2018. But since the start of the season, the results have not been at the same height. In Grand Slams, Garcia lost in the round of 16 at the Australian Open, in the second round at Roland-Garros and in the third at Wimbledon.
Since the Major on grass, she lost as soon as she entered the competition in hard-court tournaments in Washington, Montreal and Cincinnati where she defended her title. Not good for a player who needs a lot of confidence to put up a very risky game, a tactic she refuses to compromise with.
So before coming to New York, Garcia added a tournament to her program, the WTA 250 in Cleveland where she chained two victories before losing in the quarter-finals against the Chinese Lin Zhu (44th). “We decided to go and play games in Cleveland because I hadn’t played a lot lately. We think it was the best thing to do,” she explains.
With two wins for four losses in four US Open preparation tournaments, confidence cannot have increased tenfold. “It varies a lot from day to day,” she admits. I did a good job, my attitude is positive and much better than it has been for the past few weeks or months. With this attitude, I will be able to do something at this tournament, next week, later in the year or next year. But you have to work and always have confidence in my style of play and in the work”.
Still, returning to the New York courts where she played so well last year before contracting and losing in the semis against Ons Jabeur, brings Garcia a bonus of well-being. “Obviously, it’s better to come back to a tournament where you know that your game and the conditions can suit you well, than in a tournament where you’ve never done anything,” she notes. There is also an environment that she appreciates. “People are super fans of sports in general and tennis, so there’s always a huge amount of support. They know the players a lot, it’s super nice, you feel super respected, ”she explains. A small annoyance all the same: the balls of the tournament. “I can’t say that I hate them, but between those of last year and those, I prefer the others,” she underlines.
Despite everything, Garcia is on paper the best French chance at Flushing Meadows. And if his prospects in terms of result are not clear, the desire is there. “There’s a super positive energy here, it’s the last Grand Slam of the year… You gotta go what!”