By Adrianna Outlaw | Wednesday, February 17, 2016
"When I start to serve my hand was shaking," Caroline Garcia said of wrapping up her rain-delayed upset of Carla Suarez Navarro.
Photo credit: Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Stress was swirling all around Caroline Garcia.
Then things got really crazy.
Three points from upsetting Carla Suarez Navarro a wild storm stopped Garcia's charge and the match.
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A hail storm exploded during a nearly three-hour rain delay that flooded courts.
When play resumed, Garcia stepped up to serve at 5-3, 15-all in the third set.
Then the stress tremors struck.
Feeling her right hand shaking so much she let her toss drop, Garcia calmed her nerve and closed a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 upset of the third-seeded Spaniard.
"When I arrive on court I was fine. When I start to serve my hand was shaking," Garcia told Anabel Croft in her post-match interview. "I worked a lot on this part of my game, my serve, so I'm very proud to be able to (finish). It's very difficult to serve because of the rain here in Dubai. It's never easy to start again. I just play and fight."
Garcia overame a one-set, 3-4 deficit storming back to continue a week of volatility.
Suarez Navarro is the fifth seed to fall before the quarterfinals. She joins fifth-seeded Belinda Bencic, sixth-seeded Karolina Pliskova, seventh-seeded Roberta Vinci and No. 8-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova as seeded casualities.
Suarez Navarro's loss is Vinci's gain.
The 13th-ranked Italian is projected to crack the Top 10 for the first time in her career when the new WTA rankings are released on Monday. A former doubles world No. 1, Vinci reached a career-high rank of No. 11 in singles in June of 2013.
Since her lackluster Australian Open first-round loss to Barbora Strycova, Garcia has won four straight matches. Meanwhile, Strycova rallied for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-1, victory over Julia Goerges. Strycova will take on either top-seeded Simona Halep or Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals.
The 38th-ranked Garcia will play either Andrea Petkovic or Jelena Jankovic for a semifinal spot after showing survival skills today.
"It's never easy to stop," Garcia said. "I was up and playing good. It's never easy, but for both the same. She was trying to get back in it. I just play aggressive and fight till the end and bring back every ball I can."