Caroline Garcia won the biggest title of her career in Wuhan after a 6-7 (3) 7-6(4) 6-3 victory over Ashleigh Barty.
The match was full of big serving and tension as both women prepared for the biggest match of their careers. The first break of serve went to the higher ranked Frenchman as she broke in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead early in the first set. Garcia looked comfortable in the early stages as she was outmanevering her Australian opponent.
However as the set progressed Barty looked more dangerous and created more opportunities on the Garcia serve. The Australian finally gained her rewards as she broke in the 10th game to level the set 5-5. Both Women couldn’t hold serve as this tense first set went to a tiebreak. Barty used her craft and power to dominate the opening tiebreak 7-3.
The second set saw the return of serve dominate the majority of the set, as the server only managed to hold serve four times in the twelve service games. The Australian had served for the match on two separate occasions, however she couldn’t create one match point as the second set like the first was decided in a tiebreaker. Garcia managed to be more consistent on serve in the tiebreak as she won it 7-4 to force a deciding set.
The third set saw the World number 20 dominate proceedings as she took advantage of a weary Ashleigh Barty. Garcia stamped her authority as she broke in the third game for a 2-1 lead. The Australian just couldn’t create any opportunities to break down Garcia and make the final set competitive. Garcia broke again for a 5-2 lead and successfully served out the match to win the biggest title of her career.
This is how Garcia reacted to her win and the incredible week that she had in Wuhan, ‘A title is the best thing you can have in tennis, that’s why you fight all year long. I’m over the moon.’
The win means that it is the biggest of her career and she will now move into the top 15 in the World.
