This is perhaps the reference match after which she has been chasing since her title at the 2022 Masters. Monday, in the round of 16 of the WTA 1000 in Miami, Caroline Garcia, 27th at the WTA, delivered an extremely convincing performance to eliminate the n World No. 3, Coco Gauff (20 years old), in 1h43 (6-1, 3-6, 6-2).
Launched like a racing car in this round of 16, extremely dynamic on the legs, the Frenchwoman immediately took the American by the throat, both with her very high percentage of first serves (94% after her first sixteen serves), some of which were in kick rather than in force, than with his commitment to each strike, in particular to seek out the opponent’s weak point, on the forehand side. After twelve minutes, Garcia led 3-0 and Gauff had not yet seen the color of a game point.
Not bothered by the gusts, the Frenchwoman held her boat with authority at the end of this first round, concluded in 37 minutes (6-3). Both very lively during points and very calm outside of it, she no longer looked like the player looking for markers of the last fifteen months.
A massage and off we go
It was then that the match took a completely different turn. At the same time that Gauff was gaining consistency, Garcia was losing punch. Obviously, this right shoulder which has been causing him trouble lately was remembering him badly and his serve was taking a nosedive. At the end of a second express round where she only passed one first ball out of three, she called on the WTA physiotherapist who manipulated her joint before the start of the last set.
Trailing 15-40 on her serve from the first game, Garcia then got back into the rhythm of her start to the match to regain all her momentum and break away again 3-0, facing a Gauff frustrated by this yo-yo scenario. In control of her arsenal, in a good state of mind, the Frenchwoman knew how to maintain the right intensity. The American only owed a full-line lob to avoid having to save a 5-1 ball against her. The Frenchwoman hit her first ace of the match after 1h38 of play, to lead 5-2. A few minutes later, she signed her victory with a final break, with a loud cry and a big smile.
End of black series
While between July and November 2022, Garcia won eight of the ten matches she played against top 10 teams, she then had seven consecutive defeats against the elite. Since her phenomenal end to the 2022 season which took her to 4th in the world, she had only managed to beat a top 20 once. This shows if this success looks like a deliverance for the Lyonnaise of 30 years old who will be opposed in the quarter-finals to the winner of the match between the American Danielle Collins (53rd) and the Romanian Sorana Cirstea (24th).
