The gala match did not keep its promises, but Caroline Garcia cheerfully pleads guilty. Tuesday September 6, opposed to the young American “Coco” Gauff in the quarter-finals of the US Open, the Frenchwoman voluntarily prevented the Arthur-Ashe stadium, the largest tennis court in the world, from igniting: the evening New Yorker came up short for the 23,000 spectators who came to cheer on the 18-year-old local prodigy after the Lyonnaise recital. The 17e world player strolled her youngest, seeded number 12, defeated 6-3, 6-4 after only one hour thirty-seven of play.
A crossing of the field, arms outstretched mimicking the plane, then a flight towards his clan. Caroline Garcia’s choreography, which earned her the nickname “Flying Caro”, is now well established. On her face, a wide smile, which hasn’t left her since the beginning of the summer. Because, for a few months, the young woman of 28 years seems to have found her cruising altitude. Titled three times on three different surfaces – Bad Hombourg on grass in June, Warsaw on clay in July and Cincinnati on hard court in August – the right-hander has not come down from her cloud in New York, where she is qualified for the first Grand Slam singles semi-final of his career.
A quarter-final that the Lyonnaise is not about to forget. “It was a very intense match, the atmosphere was very American with a lot of energy on the court. The path is really clear now, and I’m trying to follow it.” welcomed Garcia, who is only the third French player to reach the last four at Flushing Meadows in the Open era (since 1968), after Amélie Mauresmo (2002 and 2006) and Mary Pierce (2005). “She likes to play this kind of match, that’s why she wanted to come back to this level”abounds Julien Benneteau, his Fed Cup captain (now Billie Jean King Cup).
Four years after reaching world number 4, Caroline Garcia is back with a bang on the front of the stage. Because her New York epic echoes her royal tour of China at the end of 2017. That year, after her first Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland-Garros, she won the Wuhan and Beijing tournaments in quick succession, the equivalent of a Masters 1000 for men (the category just below the Grand Slams). Garcia breaks free. But the soufflé falls as quickly as it rose.
Desert crossing
Expectations too heavy to bear for the one that the Briton Andy Murray announced, in 2011, as a future world number 1. “It was difficult because people expected a lot from me. I was around the 150e200e world place, I was 17 and my game wasn’t ready. I wasn’t able to play consistently at that kind of level.” she explained Tuesday evening, after her victory over Coco Gauff.
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