Caroline Garcia finds joy among the tears to overcome Elina Svitolina at WTA Finals
The world number eight was down a set and a break and suddenly burst into tears as she walked back on court following a pep-talk from her coach
The world number eight was down a set and a break to Elina Svitolina in the second round-robin match of her tournament debut and suddenly burst into tears as she walked back on court following a pep-talk from her coach and father Louis-Paul.
“I cannot say I handled it very well. Everyone saw it. I didn’t handle it very well at all,” Garcia said following the incident that seemed to trigger the comeback in her 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 7-5 victory over her Ukrainian opponent.
“It’s often like this and I tried to improve this part of myself. I play with my emotions on show and sometimes it gets too much,” the 24-year-old added
“The loss of the first set was very difficult because I had some chances and some set points, but sometimes you have to just let it go and keep going.
“My dad came over and I don’t know what we talked about. I just, like – it just all came out.”
“There were so many ups-and-downs in this match, a little bit like the one we played in Beijing (where Garcia also won in three sets). She was serving very well in the last set up until 5-3 and then I got a look at her second serve,” she said.
“I knew this was my last chance, so I went for it. I tried to be even more aggressive, tried to hit it down the line and I was more accurate. I was also patient on the long rallies, and it made the difference.”
To reach the semi-finals, Garcia needs to overcome an unbeaten Caroline Wozniacki in her final Red Group match on Friday and hope Svitolina beats Halep.