At the Guadalajara tournament, Caroline Garcia eked out a victory over Rebecca Marino by a score of 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, and 7-6 (7/5). A hard-fought yet critically significant victory for the Masters.
Caroline Garcia, who is ranked 10th in the world, advanced to the third round of the WTA 500 in Guadalajara after defeating Rebecca Marino of Canada, who was ranked 80th in the world. Garcia won the match 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), and moved a step closer to qualifying for the Women’s Masters.
How difficult it was, given the high humidity in Mexico, at the end of the night and after 2 hours and 31 minutes of a close and frequently laborious fight. But in the end, it was the Frenchwoman who was 29 years old who came out on top, converting her first match point and letting out a yell of fury that was also tinged with a sense of satisfaction.
Because at 6-5 against her in the third set, after having asked for the assistance of a physiotherapist to massage her hurting right shoulder, she discovered that she was down 0-30 on her serve and was losing the game. Marino was only two points away from winning, but he was unable to drive the point home.
And in the deciding tie-break, Garcia was still two points behind the leader, despite having blown a mini-break earlier in the match. In spite of the fact that she was up against an adversary who had been imperial for a significant portion of the fight (24 aces), she was eventually able to regain her composure and win the game.
“She was a really difficult opponent to handle, and she had a powerful serve, both of which put me in a difficult position with regard to mine.” The Frenchman who reached the semi-finals of the most recent US Open stated that he “had to be as calm as possible, despite the aggravation that I felt at times.”
In the following round, she will compete against either the American Sloane Stephens (who is ranked 50th) or the Swiss Belinda Bencic (14th).
The latter is one of Garcia’s rivals in the competition to earn a spot in the Masters, which will be held in Fort Worth (Texas) from October 31 to November 7 this year. This is a challenge that the Lyonnaise has already faced in 2017, making it all the way to the semi-finals before losing to Venus Williams.
Only three players are currently certain to compete in the prestigious end-of-year meeting: world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who won Roland-Garros and the US Open in 2022, Tunisian Ons Jabeur, who reached the finals of two Grand Slam tournaments this year, and American Jessica Pegula.
On the other side, Garcia is in a very advantageous position to acquire one of the remaining five tickets. There are only two tickets left.
With 2,896 points, the French No. 1 is now ranked sixth in the Race, which is a ranking that is generated over the course of a calendar year. That is more than 350 points ahead of the first player who did not qualify at this stage, the Greek Maria Sakkari, who will compete in the semi-final in Guadalajara.
Therefore, a victory in the third round may be all that is required to ensure its qualifying; this is especially true if its direct competitors continue to perform poorly.