The draw for the “bis” Masters in Zhuhai, which begins this Tuesday, took place on Monday, and placed Caroline Garcia in the same group as Madison Keys and Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Failing to compete in the Masters, which she won last year after an exceptional second part of the season, Caroline Garcia will begin the “bis” Masters of Zhuhai on Wednesday, which is returning to the calendar after four years of absence due to of the coronavirus pandemic. The draw for this tournament reserved for the eleven best players not qualified for the Masters (Sakkari, Kvitova and Bencic renounced) and a guest (in this case the Chinese Lin Zhu, 37th in the world) took place this Monday, and the Frenchwoman was placed in the Camélia group. Seeded No. 9 in the tournament, she will face two higher-ranked players: Madison Keys (No. 2) and Beatriz Haddad Maia (No. 7).
On paper, the Lyonnaise therefore seems badly on track to win this group and compete in the semi-finals. But if we study the dynamics, things might be different. Since her elimination from the US Open, Caroline Garcia has won eight out of thirteen matches. Madison Keys has only played one match since her semi-final in New York, losing in Guadalajara in mid-September. As for Haddad Maia, she has only won three matches out of seven since the US Open. Caroline Garcia therefore seems to have a chance to play, even if she is led 4-1 in her confrontations with the American (her only victory dating back to 2014) and she has never faced the Brazilian yet.
Points and dollars to take
Falling to 20th place in the world, with 2035 points, this Monday following the loss of points from her victory at the Masters last year, the French n°1 can limit the damage after this average 2023 season if she shines in Zhuhai. Each player will in fact receive 40 points for each group match played, plus 80 additional points for each group match won. The runners-up will receive an additional 200 points and the winner an additional 460 points, making a maximum of 700 points up for grabs, about half the points for a victory at the real Cancun Masters. A nice consolation prize, without forgetting the $220,000 to be won in the event of a group stage ending undefeated or the $605,000 to be won in the event of a tournament finishing without the slightest defeat.
Azalea Group: Barbora Krejcikova (RTC, n°1), Daria Kasatkina (RUS, n°6), Magda Linette (POL, n°11)
Camélia Group: Madison Keys (USA, no. 2), Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRE, no. 7), Caroline Garcia (FRA, no. 9)
Orchid Group: Jelena Ostapenko (LET, No. 3), Qinwen Zheng (CHN, No. 8), Donna Vekic (CRO, No. 10)
Pink Group: Liudmila Samsonova (RUS, No. 5), Veronica Kudermetova (RUS, No. 4), Lin Zhu (CHN, WC)
>>> The first of each group qualifies for the semi-finals
