"After the Sharapova match, it was a lot of pressure" - Caroline Garcia on dealing with expectations following US Open quarterfinal win against Coco Gauff 

Caroline Garcia touched upon the pressure of dealing with expectations following her US Open quarterfinal win against Coco Gauff on Tuesday. Playing in her first Major quarterfinal since 2017, the 17th seed defeated the American teenager 6-3, 6-4 to advance to her first Grand Slam semifinal.

Garcia and Gauff entered their clash without dropping a set in New York. The latter also held a 2-0 lead in the head-to-head, having defeated the former in the Round of 32 in Doha earlier this year and the Round of 64 at Indian Wells in 2021.

The 28-year-old first made waves in 2011, when she earned a wildcard for the Australian Open, where she defeated Varvara Lepchenko in the first round in her first appearance in the main draw of a tour-level event. A few months later, she entered the French Open as a wildcard once again, where she beat Zuzana Ondraskova to set up a clash with Maria Sharapova.

In that second-round contest, she held a 6–3, 4–1, 15–0 lead against the former World No. 1 before the Russian fought back to win 11 games in a row to prevail 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.

Caroline Garcia made such an impression in that match that Sir Andy Murray took to social media to sing her praises.

"The girl sharapova is playing is going to be number one in the world one day caroline garcia, what a player u heard it here first," he had tweeted.

Expectations were sky high for Garcia, as she was predicted by many to dominate the tour for years to come. However, things panned out a little differently.

At her post-match press conference following the win against Gauff, Garcia spoke about dealing with pressure as a teenager and how she was not ready to be the player everyone thought she was.

"Yeah, it was definitely a challenge. When it was 2011 after the Sharapova match, it was a lot of pressure coming from actually nowhere. I was 150, 200 in the world, 17 years old. My game was not ready. I was not able to play that consistent, this kind of level. The weeks after I went back trying to play the same level, but it was not possible for me," Caroline Garcia said.

"It was tough because people were expecting a lot. But the game, I was not ready for anything of that. It took me some time to come step by step to the top. End of 2017, 2018 was great year, a lot of success. Yeah, I made some mistake. We made some mistake. I really hope and I think we learn from it," she added.

This year, the World No. 17 has been playing with a smile on her face. She stated that she's been focusing on her game and sees her path a lot more clearly.

"Now, yeah, it's a new year, trying to learn from every challenge. I think I grow up a lot with all the challenges on and off court. Off court, it's very important to manage all of it. I'm just trying to focus on my game, on what I like to do, how is the best way for me to play tennis. The path is very clear right now, which direction I have to go, under stress, under pressure. I'm just trying to follow this path. That's how we prepare with the team. We try to do the best we can in this direction," she explained.

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"She was a rare kind of style, it's a great challenge for my game" - Caroline Garcia on Ons Jabeur

Caroline Garcia in action at the 2022 US Open.

The win against Coco Gauff extended Caroline Garcia's win streak to 13 matches, which began with her title victory at the Cincinnati Open. In the process, she also became the third Frenchwoman in the Open Era to make the US Open semifinals, after Amelie Mauresmo (2002, 2006) and Mary Pierce (2005).

Garcia will face Ons Jabeur in the semifinals, an opponent she first faced on the junior circuit.

"We played semifinal I think in Roland Garros in junior. Other tournament as well in juniors. It was really a challenge for me to play her in junior. She was a rare kind of style. Yeah, a few times she stopped me on my way to get a slam in juniors. It's a great challenge for my game, for me. I'm really looking forward to it. Try to do the best I can," Caroline Garcia said.