The misfortune of some is the happiness of others. Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka’s entry loss to the Guadalajara tournament in Mexico against Russian Liudmila Samsonova (6-4, 2-6, 6-2), Wednesday, October 19, assured Caroline Garcia (world number 10 ) to participate in the Masters, in Fort Worth, Texas, from October 31 to November 7, an end-of-year event that brings together the eight best players of the season.
La Française, currently 5e in the race for the Masters, had already done a good job on Tuesday by winning narrowly in the first round of the Mexican tournament against the Canadian Rebecca Marino (6-7, 6-3, 7-6). Following the defeat of the Belarusian, she is now certain to remain in the top 8 of the “Race”, the ranking over the calendar year, since only three players can still, mathematically, exceed her.
The former world number 4 – his best ranking, in 2018 – finds the Masters for the second time in his career. She joins the world number 1, the Polish Iga Swiatek, imperial this year, the Tunisian Ons Jabeur, double finalist in Grand Slam this season and who beat her in the semi-finals of the US Open, and the Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff. Eleven players can still hope to win one of the three remaining places.
Back to the fore
However, at the start of the year, it was difficult to imagine seeing the Frenchwoman being part of this meeting. In full doubt for four years and weighed down by numerous injuries, the 29-year-old Lyonnaise was at 79e world place in May, its worst ranking in eight years. Her title at Roland-Garros with her compatriot Kristina Mladenovic marked the beginning of her revival.
From mid-June to mid-September, the native of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Yvelines) chained performances: thirty-one victories in three months, three titles – in Bad Homburg (Germany) on grass, in Warsaw on clay and, above all, Cincinnati (Ohio) on hard court – and a semi-final at the US Open, a stage she had never reached in a Grand Slam in singles.
“My style of play and my state of mind are much clearer. We decided on a way to play, which way to goconfided Caroline Garcia, now trained by Bertrand Perret, to The Team after his title in Cincinnati. I feel much better physically. I can train and move however I want. It’s already hugee. »
In Fort Worth, the French will try to do as well as during her first participation in the Masters, in 2017, she who had climbed to the semi-finals, beaten by the American Venus Williams.
