“What went wrong against Sorana Cirstea (6-2, 6-3)?
It’s rather that not much has worked. I struggled to get into the match, to have a level of concentration stable enough to be consistent and to have a minimum of solidity compared to the level that I had to produce.
She played her match, she was solid, she gave me very few points. She often anticipated well. On the few short balls I had, she started on the right side, on a few serves too. Obviously the fact of having played it in Indian Wells affected me a little at first. Already I was not very confident when I returned to the field … It was a difficult day, a difficult match to live.
How did you prepare for this match against an opponent who beat you last week?
I had played a very up and down game in very different conditions. I had often gone to the net and she had passed me in an incredible way with her backhand in particular. I tried to change a bit from that. His serve, I couldn’t read it any better. Above all, I wanted to be solid and give him fewer points than last time. To be more stable but that’s something I haven’t really been able to do. It was complicated to have a guideline in my head and it forgives tennis too much if you can’t concentrate on all the points.
After Indian Well and Miami, the first cycle of the season ends. How would you rate this first quarter?
It’s hard, we should see a little in general while there I’m still really in my day. Frankly, it’s pretty average low. There are a lot of disappointments. I do two finals in 250 (Lyon and Monterrey) so it’s obviously good. But the two times I came pretty close, I lost 7-6 in the third against Sakari (in Doha), there were tight matches where I couldn’t make a difference.
Monterrey, 7-5 in the third (against Vekic), I must admit that it hurt a little. Between winning a tournament and making the final has nothing to do with confidence or points. Cirstea at Indian Wells, 6-4 in the third… it’s been several matches that have hurt me really badly in a fairly short time and that’s hard. There is nothing extraordinary, it is a little disappointing.
Caroline Garcia training in Miami. (M. Thomas/Sports Press)
“The clay court is a new season that begins”
But the second cycle projects towards an apotheosis at Roland-Garros. Enough to nurture new ambitions…
Of course, the goal is to try to take the positive from these first three months, to note the points for improvement and to work on them. Then clay, it’s a new season that begins in the season, you have to go with long teeth and full of motivation and freshness. It’s true that Roland-Garros is an apotheosis, a dream tournament.
The rest of your program?
I do the Fed Cup (April 14-15) then Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome and Roland.
With a new framework?
Maybe, but now is not the time to talk about it (laughs)… »