Caroline Garcia beats Simona Halep to win Premier Mandatory tournament in Beijing - UBITENNIS
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Caroline Garcia beats Simona Halep to win Premier Mandatory tournament in Beijing

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Caroline Garcia edged past World number 1 Simona Halep 6-3 7-6 (7-3) in a tight final under the closed roof on a rainy day at the Premier Mandatory in Beijing. With this win Garcia overtakes Johanna Konta in eighth place in the WTA Race to Singapore and is close to qualifying for the WTA Finals in Singapore. This means that Konta will need to reach the final in Moscow to keep her chance alive to qualify for the season-ending tournament.

Halep won their previous two head-to-head matches against Garcia in the Round of 16 in Sydney (6-4 2-6 6-1) and in the quarter final in Toronto (6-4 6-2) but the French player has made a big improvement in the recent weeks and reached two consecutive finals in Wuhan and Beijing. Thanks to her final in the Chinese capital Garcia will make her debut in the top 10 on Monday becoming the first French woman to be ranked inside the top 10 since Marion Bartoli.

Halep started the match with an inside-out forehand return winner in the opening game. Garcia broke straight back at 30, as Halep made a double fault. Garcia held her serve in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. In the fifth game Halep missed a forehand return at 30-30 and Garcia held her serve to take a 3-2 after a long baseline rally.

Halep saved a break point in the sixth game with a big second serve to hold her serve at deuce for 3-3. In the eighth game Halep built a 40-15 lead but Garcia got to deuce with two return winners off her second serve. Garcia missed her second serve into the net to give Halep a game point before hitting a backhand return on her second serve long allowing Halep to hold serve and tie 4-4. Halep fought back from 0-40 to force the ninth game to deuce but Garcia held her serve for 5-4 at deuce, as Halep hit her backhand into the netcord. Garcia earned the crucial break at 30 by converting her first set point after a tight 44-minute first set. Halep lost her first set since her first round match against Alison Riske.

In the first set Garcia converted two of her four break points and hit 8 winners to 13 unforced errors, while Halep had a -7 ratio (4 winners to 11 unforced errors).

There were no break points in the first games of the second set. In the opening game Halep hit a forehand return to take a 15-30 lead but Garcia fought back to to game to game point with a forehand down the line winner before holding with a good first serve.

In the third game Garcia went up 40-0 but Halep rallied to 40-30 by winning the next two points. Garcia held serve for 2-1, as Halep hit a forehand down the line wide.

Garcia avoided a possible break point attempt from Halep and held her serve at 30 in the fifth game with an unreturnable serve out wide for 3-2. Halep held serve to 30 winning a backhand to backhand rally. At 3-3 Garcia went down 0-40 after three consecutive unforced errors and was forced to save nine break points in a very long ninth game before earning a game point in the seventh game. She converted it as Halep hit her backhand into the net to take a 4-3 lead in a marathon 12-point game. Halep held serve to love to tie 4-4.

Garcia held serve in the ninth game at 30 for 5-4. Halep had a strong hold to win her service game at 15 for 5-5, as she was serving to stay in the match. Garcia held at 30 to take a 6-5 lead. Halep held to force the set to the tie-break.

In the tie-break Halep hit an ace to draw level to 1-1 but Garcia got the mini-break, as the Romanian player hit a backhand into the net. Garcia backed up the mini-break to open up a 3-1 lead with a strong volley and pulled away to 4-1 as Halep missed a backhand return. Halep clawed her way back to 3-4 with a forehand passing shot. Garcia earned a championship point at 6-3 after two unforced errors from Halep and converted it on her first attempt after 1 hour and 52 minutes to crown a dream two-week campaign on Chinese soil with two back-to-back titles in Wuhan and Beijing.

Garcia has become the first player to win the two big tournaments in consecutive weeks and the first player since Victoria Azarenka since the Indian Wells-Miami double to clinch two back-to-back titles.

Halep converted just one of her ten break points, including nine in the seventh game of the second set.

“It was incredible. I did not expect to win two titles when I arrived in China. I want to congratulate with Simona for achieving her feat to become world number 1. I have no secrets for my success. I have always believed in myself and I worked hard. Two tournaments in a row is difficult to believe. It was a pleasure to be for two weeks in China. It is always difficult at the end of the season because we are all tired but it’s always nice to come here and meet new fans. I will come back as I have a great memory. I just want to enjoy this moment and I will come back to defend my title. It will be another competition but I will ready to fight for it”. said Garcia after the match during the award ceremony.

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Caroline Garcia Opens Up About Recent Struggles After Claiming First Top 10 Win Since 2022 In Miami

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Caroline Garcia - Australian Open 2024 (Foto X @ausopen)

After a lacklustre start to her season, Caroline Garcia is finally finding some momentum in her tennis at the Miami Open. 

Garcia, who has been ranked as high as fourth in the world, came into the WTA 1000 event yet to reach a quarter-final on the Tour this year and hadn’t back-to-back matches. However, her fortunes have turned around at her latest event where she produced a stunning win over Coco Gauff in the fourth round on Monday. 

The 30-year-old rallied to a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2, win over the reigning US Open champion. It is the first time she has beaten a top 10 player on the Tour for 16 months. Before taking on Gauff, she also beat four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka in straight sets. 

“It’s definitely a great match and a great win for me. The last couple of months have not been easy,” Garcia said afterwards. 

Garcia claimed the biggest title of her career at the 2022 WTA Finals, where she won four out of her five matches played at the end-of-season event. However, since then she has only reached the final of two more Tour-level events which were during the first two months of last year. She is currently ranked 27th in the world and has been outside the top 20 since January. 

“Sometimes you don’t have all the results you want, and sometimes it can affect you too much,” Garcia commented.
“You have to find a good balance and a good relationship with tennis to balance your professional life and personal.
“I think we have been able to do good sometimes. On the practice courts in Indian Wells after the loss against Maria (Sakkari), I was a bit down and then we did some good practice and we saw she played well. 
“My game was there. I just had to go for it and play my matches. I have been able to do it one match at a time.”

The Frenchwoman will be hoping to continue her fairytale run in the quarter-finals where she will take on unseeded Danielle Collins. Collins, who will retire later this year, dropped only five games during her 6-3, 6-2, win over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea. 

“I just want to be focused on my game what I can do and at the end try my best and walk out of the court proud of the effort,” Garcia concluded. 

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Shocks Galore In Miami As Four Top 10 Players Crash Out Of Women’s Draw

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An action-packed Saturday at the Miami Open saw a series of top names suffer surprise losses in the third round with the the most high-profile exit being Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka. 

The world No.2 suffered a disappointing 6-4, 1-6, 6-1, loss to Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina after just over two hours of play. Sabalenka struggled particularly with her second serve with the Belarussian only winning 10 out of 27 points. In the final set, she failed to hold her serve once and smashed her racket on the ground multiple times immediately after the match concluded. 

“It’s always tough to play on big stages against these top players,” said Kalinina. “Today was really tough with nerves but I managed in the tough moments to deal with it. 
“So I’m a little bit proud of myself today.” 

Sabalenka’s defeat comes less than a week after the death of her former boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov who passed away in Miami. She has opted not to speak with the media at the tournament whilst playing due to the current circumstances. However, on Wednesday in a short statement on social media, she said her “heart was broken” by the “unthinkable tragedy.” 

Meanwhile, 32nd seed Kalinina will next play Yulia Putintseva. It is the first time she has beaten a top 10 player this season with Sabalenka being the second Grand Slam winner she has ousted in Miami. Earlier in the tournament, she also knocked out Caroline Wozniacki in a marathon encounter that lasted more than three hours. 

Another casualty in the draw is Ons Jabeur who lost 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, to Elina Avanbesyan. It is the fourth match in a row that the Tunisian has lost on the Tour. She is yet to win back-to-back matches on the Tour in 2024 but has been troubled in recent weeks by a knee injury. 

Chinese seventh seed Zheng Qinwen was knocked out of the draw in straight sets by former champion Victoria Azarenka. Zheng was broken four times in the match during her 6-4, 7-5, loss. 

Finally, Jelena Ostaoeko won just four games during her 6-3, 6-1, loss to Anna Kalinskaya. 

Despite the series of shocks, four out of five top five players remain in the draw this year. They are Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula. 

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Coco Gauff And Aryna Sabalenka Struggle Through In Indian Wells Openers

The duo were pushed to three sets in their first matches played at this year’s WTA 1000 event.

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Coco Gauff admits she didn’t play her best tennis at Indian Wells on Saturday after coming through a rollercoaster three-set battle. 

The world No.3 needed more than two hours to oust France’s Clara Burel 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). Gauff found herself trailing multiple times during the match. After losing the opening set, the reigning US Open champion then had to battle back from a 0-4 deficit in the decider. Capitalising on some tentative hitting from Burel who was bidding to record the biggest win of her career. 

Despite prevailing, it was a far from vintage performance from Gauff who hit six double faults and 14 unforced errors during the first set alone. She also struggled behind her second serve, winning just 12 out of 36 points played. 

“I think for me it’s just getting through that match definitely meant a lot,” Gauff said. “Could have easily thrown in the towel. But honestly, I was just telling myself, like, win or lose, I don’t want to have any regrets on the court. I want to be like I gave myself the best opportunity to win, and I did that.
“Am I proud of how I played? Not really, to be honest. But the fight, I am proud of. I am eager to improve. I think it wasn’t my best tennis at all. I think I just have a lot of improvement that I can do to get better.”

The 19-year-old has become the first teenager in the last 15 years to have won 50 or more matches at WTA 1000 events. She will next play Lucia Bonzetti.

“That’s pretty cool,” Gauff commented on her latest milestone. “I feel like I have a lot of stats and stuff like that. Hopefully I can close this chapter of my life off good. I’m really happy with how my teenage years went.” 

Sabalenka avoids major upset 

Aryna Sabalenka was another player to experience trouble during their opening match after outlasting Peyton Sterns 6-7 (2), 6-2, 7-6 (8), in a clash that lasted almost three hours. The world No.2 was on the verge of losing and had to save four match points when down 4-5 in the final set. Despite that blip, she held her nerve to break back before prevailing in a tightly contested tiebreaker. 

“Wow, I think I was right when I see this tattoo of a tiger and I was fighting today like a tiger,” said Sabalenka. “It’s just crazy what happened. She’s an unbelievable player.
“She played crazy tennis. She said at the net, ‘I had you,’ so she’s right. I was probably a little bit lucky to get this win. Super happy to get through this.”
“I didn’t play my best tennis and she was crushing it like crazy. I was just trying to stay in the game and keep fighting for every point. But this match definitely goes into the book of craziest matches and the best matches of my career.”

Sabalenka is hoping to go one step better in Indian Wells than 12 months ago when she reached the final before losing to Elena Rybakina, who has pulled out of the tournament due to gastrointestinal issues. 

Awaiting the Belrussian in the next round will be Emma Raducanu in what will be the first meeting on the Tour. 

Elsewhere, Naomi Osaka posted a convincing 7-5, 6-3, win over world No.15 Luidmila Samsonova. It is the first time she has beaten a top 20 player since returning to competitive tennis following the birth of her child. 

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