Frustrating, tense, annoying, whatever you want… But it’s also the hard law of tennis. Weighed down by the pressure that was felt in particular in her low percentage of first serves and her inability to return throughout the match, Caroline Garcia never managed to relax until being eliminated from the Open. Australia by Poland’s Magda Linette, 7-6(3), 6-4 in 1:57, tonight at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne Park.
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A hot start, then almost nothing
That night, “Flying Caro” remained grounded. She had however taken off well with a double break and a 3-0 lead which augured a simpler match than in the previous round against the German Laura Siegemund. But in reality, it was mainly Linette who experienced some ignition delays. Hardly had the Pole raised her level of play than the French exploded in flight. She has also, from there, no longer obtained the slightest break point. And owed only to his courage the fact of delaying the deadline. Because tennis, she was very far from the mark, in any case very far from the level which had allowed her to win the Masters at the end of last season.
With her double break lead, Garcia still led 5-3 in this first set and was even two points away from winning it at 5-4, 30-30 on her serve. But she then committed a horrible double fault, before finally getting broken on a big backhand fault.
We will not go so far as to write that the match, therefore, was over. The Frenchwoman fought to the end with the weak weapons that were hers today, and despite her obvious lack of feeling. But she spent the rest of the time undergoing and seeking her release, even if it meant showing her rage until she received a (severe) warning for a “p…” which was nevertheless very understandable, but a little too audible to the eyes ( or rather to the ears) of the referee.
Caroline Garcia: “Focus on my style of play”
49% first serves only
The main problem of “Caro”? A first ball at half mast (49%) which brought him far fewer free points than usual, and moreover fewer points than his opponent. Which, on the other hand, multiplied the winning services by relying on the other sector of the game failing at the French: an inability to return. In the second set, Magda Linette only lost six points on her serve. Find the mistake.
Weighed down by these two poorly lubricated launch pads, the semi-finalist of the last US Open saw the rest of her game fall apart, multiplying unforced and sometimes (often) gross faults: 33 in total, against 27 winning strokes. We know that Caroline Garcia’s high-risk tennis depends heavily on this ratio. It was, this time, too negative.
Opposite, we must also of course give thanks to Magda Linette who did everything to soap her board a little more. “Caro” may have been wrong to insist a little too much on his opponent’s forehand, a priori more technically suspect than his backhand. But the Polish has often smelled the blow and excelled in the art of counter. She didn’t flinch either, at any time, not even serving for the match, or when she saw Caroline come back from 30-0 to 30-30 in that last game. 30 years old his first round of 16 in a Grand Slam. It’s strong too.
Behind, quite a symbol, Linette followed up with a winning backhand followed by a winning service to conclude the match and therefore offer herself, at her “advanced” age, a first Grand Slam quarter-final (against Karolina Pliskova) , in an epic that somewhat resembles that of Alizé Cornet last year. Last year, a Frenchwoman had the beautiful role. This year, another Frenchwoman had the wrong one.
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