Caroline Garcia, 17th in the world of women’s tennis, seemed petrified by the stakes of a first Grand Slam semi-final, Thursday March 8 at the US Open, where she was swept away by the Tunisian Ons Jabeur (6-1 , 6-3) in 1 h 06.
The 28-year-old Frenchwoman never managed to release the pressure or set up her aggressive game. For his part, Ons Jabeur (28 years old and world number five) will play his second major final in a row after that of Wimbledon, lost against Elena Rybakina. This time it will be against the Polish Iga Swiatek (world number one) or the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (6th).
Very tense
” It’s awesome ! After Wimbledon, I was under a lot of pressure and I’m really relieved to have confirmed my results. The season on hard courts had started a bit badly, but I’m very happy to be in the final.” commented the Tunisian.
Caroline Garcia appeared very tense as soon as she entered the Arthur-Ashe court, contrary to what she had let appear during the previous rounds. And she never broke free. Holder of the aces record for the season (316 before the semi-final) and for the tournament this year (30) she managed only 2 (all in the second set) against 8 for Ons Jabeur. And she committed a total of 23 unforced errors (against 15 for her opponent).
Lots of unforced errors
The Lyonnaise missed the first innings by completely missing her first game of service (four unforced errors) to concede the break. On the contrary, Ons Jabeur started with two aces and won his first service game to lead 2-0.
The French then won her first and only game of the set, which she offered to her opponent on a 14th unforced error (against 5 for the Tunisian in this first set). In the second set, Ons Jabeur made the break to lead 3-1 and then kept his advantage until the end.
“Mentally prepared”
Despite the injunctions of her father who beckoned her to move forward on the court, Caroline Garcia failed to put her game in place, this game which had allowed her to align a series of 13 consecutive victories since the first round. qualifying from Cincinnati, where she won the 10th title of her career just before coming to New York.
Tennis legend and newly retired: Serena Williams in six dates
Still ranked 79th in the world in May, the former number four will return to the top 10 on Monday, September 12, in 10th place. “I knew she was playing incredible tennis and putting a lot of pressure on her opponent. It wasn’t easy for me, but I was so well prepared mentally…” explained Ons Jabeur.
