Aged 28 and into US Open semis, Garcia finally overcoming pressure of expectations

Caroline Garcia is through to her first Grand Slam semi-final after beating Coco Gauff on Tuesday at the US Open. For the Frenchwoman, it’s better late than never.

Caroline Garcia, US Open 2022 | © Antoine Couvercelle / Panoramic

Ricky Dimon

September 7, 2022

It was during the 2011 French Open when Andy Murray anointed Caroline Garcia as a future world No 1. Garcia, 17 years old and ranked 188th at the time, was leading world No 8 Maria Sharapova by a set and 4-1 in the second. The teenager ended up losing in three, but nonetheless her incredible talent had been on full display.

The girl sharapova is playing is going to be number one in the world one day caroline garcia, what a player u heard it here first
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) May 26, 2011

That’s not to say Murray was entirely to blame for the pressure of expectations. Garcia had already produced a brilliant junior career and was highly touted by many in the tennis world — not just the Scot. And the Frenchwoman struggled to deal with it. She briefly peaked at No 4 in the rankings during the 2018 season but then fell out of the top 70 at the end of last year.

“It was definitely a challenge,” Garcia responded when asked following her US Open quarter-final win over Coco Gauff on Tuesday about trying to live up to expectations. “When it was 2011 after the Sharapova match, it was a lot of pressure coming from actually nowhere. I was 150, 200 in the world, 17 years old. My game was not ready. I was not able to play that consistent kind of level. The weeks after I went back trying to play the same level, but it was not possible for me.

“It was tough because people were expecting a lot…. But the game, I was not ready for anything of that. It took me some time to come step by step to the top.”

Garcia poised to return to top 10

At 28 years old, it is finally all coming together for Garcia. The biggest title of her career came last month in Cincinnati and it has her up to No 17 in the world. Her hot streak has continued in New York, where she has not dropped a single set or even been pushed to a tiebreaker. Garcia is guaranteed to break back into the top 10 unless Karolina Pliskova wins the title and she will go all the way to No 4 — matching her career high — with a title.

“[The path to success] was not that clear in the past. It was not that clear. I mean, I always been very aggressive. I always try to put the pressure on the other one to be on the court. But I was younger. I did not have [clarity] as I have today in which direction I have to go, in which way my game is the best, and to accept that it’s actually the only way for me. So if I want to do [well], I have to go that way. Yeah, now it’s way more clear.”

It’s clear that right now the only direction in which Garcia is going is up.