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Caroline Garcia crowned her extraordinary 2022 season with her maiden WTA Finals title at Fort Worth, Texas, earlier this month.
Garcia won four titles in the second half of the season and made a return to the World No. 4 spot. The French ace finally seems to be fulfilling the expectations of tennis fans from more than a decade ago.
Renowned tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou feels Garcia has come a long way since her 2011 breakthrough and looks ready to rise to the pinnacle of the world rankings now.
Eleven years ago, a teenaged Garcia burst onto the scene with her famous duel with former World No. 1 Maria Sharapova in the second round of the French Open. The unheralded wildcard led the five-time Major winner 6-3, 4-1, 15-0 before the Russian turned the tables on her in three sets.
Garcia might have lost that match but not before earning quite a few fans, with Andy Murray being one. Murray even prophesied her to rise to the top spot one day.
In the subsequent years, however, Caroline Garcia failed to be consistent. She went on to amass 11 career titles, out of which only seven came from 2014 to 2019. After a three-year barren run, she finally seems to have got her act together at the age of 29, as is evident from her scintillating 2022 season.
Garcia's remarkable turnaround has impressed many, including Mouratoglou. In a video posted on his Instagram account on November 15, the Frenchman analyzed Garcia's career, starting with her Sharapova clash.
Mouratoglou feels it was tough for the young Garcia to deal with the limelight she was suddenly thrust into after her encounter with the Russian superstar. He pointed out that the burden of expectations and the subsequent criticism following her failure to meet them mentally affected the French player:
"I think it was very difficult for Caroline in the past because the expectations were huge. We all remember that match she played against Sharapova. The entire tennis world said she would be No. 1.
"People get completely crazy with her without really knowing her. People were saying it's not necessary to take so much risk, it's stupid, she doesn't understand tennis and a lot of criticism. Especially about the father not knowing tennis, not understanding tennis.
"So I think it hurted them a lot and that's why it took so long. (sic)"
Mouratoglou observes the changes Caroline Garcia has made to her game now
Patrick Mouratoglou believes that Caroline Garcia has now embraced her high-risk, high-rewards style of play and is mentally at peace with it. He feels it is reflected in the confidence with which she has been striking the ball of late.
Mouratoglou emphasized that her second-serve returns and her sense of choosing the right moment to attack at the net have been instrumental behind her stupendous success this year:
"And I think it's safe to say that today she accepts to play the tennis she feels like playing, being inside the baseline to return on second serves using really her qualities, being extremely aggressive, coming to the net a lot, and not to come to the net but always with very good attacks.
"Someone super athletic, super intense, serving very well, an impressive player. When I see her play now, I see her No. 1."
Caroline Garcia ended her fabulous 2022 season with a 45-20 win-loss record, which also included a run to the semifinals of the US Open for the first time. A late bloomer, if ever there was one, Garcia has given her fans enough reason to look forward to the new season with a lot of hope.
