Caroline Garcia beat Mirjana Lucic Baroni 6-4 6-1 to win her first title since 2014 at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, a WTA International tournament.
Garcia beat Lucic Baroni in their last three head-to-head matches. The French player secured an early break to open up a 3-0 lead. Lucic Baroni saved break points before winning her first game of the match.
Garcia got a double break to race out to a 5-1 lead. Lucic Baroni got both breaks back to claw her way back to 4-5. Garcia earned three set points on Lucic Baroni’s serve at 0-40 but Lucic Baroni saved the first two chances. Garcia converted her third opportunity to seal the first set 6-4.
Garcia broke serve in the fourth game of the second set to take a 3-1 lead. She never looked back and got a double break for 5-1 with a backhand return winner. Garcia went up a 40-0 lead with a forehand winner. The French player closed out on her match point with her ace down the line to win her second title.
Garcia will play against Bojana Jovanovski in the first round at the Roland Garros.
Thirty-four year-old Lucic Baroni reached the final in Strasbourg in 1997 but she lost to Steffi Graf
“I felt very confident going into the final. The first set I let her back into it. The first set is super important in tennis for momentum becuase you want to get off to a good start. I got that today, which helped for the rest of the match. Another title is great. Every tournament is a new chance to develop”, said Garcia.
