By Alberto Amalfi | Sunday, November 6, 2022
World No. 6 Caroline Garcia soared past Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-2 to land in the title match of the WTA Finals in Forth Worth, Texas.
Photo credit: Robert Prange/Getty
Caroline Garcia is flying high in Forth Worth—and taking fans along on a thrill ride.
The 29-year-old Garcia soared past Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-2 to land in the title match of the WTA Finals in Forth Worth, Texas.
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Garcia will face either world No. 1 Iga Swiatek or seventh-seeded Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in tomorrow's final.
The sixth-seeded Garcia is the only woman in the field to beat Swiatek this season. Garcia defeated the Roland Garros and US Open champion 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 en route to the Warsaw title on red clay in July. Garcia also scored a three-set semifinal win over Sabalenka en route to claiming her 10th career title in Cincinnati last August.
World No. 6 Garcia is the first Frenchwoman to advance to the WTA Finals championship match since Hall of Famer Amélie Mauresmo played success finals in 2005 and 2006. Mauresmo defeated Mary Pierce in an all-French final in 2005 and fell to Justine Henin in the 2006 final.
An assertive Garcia attacked both first and second serve. Garcia smacked six aces against one double fault and won 23 of 30 first-serve points.
The pace and penetration of Garcia's first serve and her crackling returns often forced Sakkari, who went undefeated and did not drop a set in three round-robin wins, to play off her back foot.
"Yesterday, I was a little bit tired – nothing unusual after such a big match. This morning, obviously the legs were a bit heavy, but I was just so excited, the emotion and the win yesterday to be playing a semifinal today of the WTA Finals."
The veteran Garcia is the oldest woman to reach the WTA Finals final since a 37-year-old Venus Williams lost to Caroline Wozniacki in the 2017 title match.