After winning her first match at Wimbledon on Monday, Caroline Garcia predicted that her clash in the second round against Emma Raducanu was with a ticket to the Central Court.
“This will be my first match on the Central Court and it is always a pleasure to play on the big courts of helmet tournaments, and Wimbledon is very special,” she said after defeating another British player, Yuriko Miyazaki. “It’s going to be a great atmosphere. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Garcia was not only insightful. She turned out to be the winner. With a 6-3, 6-3 victory over No. 10 and home favorite, the former World No.4 advanced to the third round of the All-England Club for the third time in her career. The win also gave Garcia a little revenge against Raducanu this season; she lost to her in three sets at the BNP Paribas Open in March in their first career match.
“I am definitely very happy with my performance today,” Garcia told reporters after the match. “I knew it was going to be a tough game, and playing on the center court was never easy the first time. I’m really happy with the way I played my match and did it.
“Of course, when you play with someone who has played very well in the past in this tournament and she is obviously very successful in big events, I know she would play best today. She was on the center court, this is my first time, so I was just really trying to be focused on myself, how I could prepare, and wait for the best of her and just be prepared for my game. which I wanted to do, be aggressive and just try one point at a time. “
Match management: Garcia rose to the occasion in 85 minutes, showing the form that brought her to this high level in her career four years ago. The Frenchwoman scored 24 winners, more than double Radukanu’s 11, won 71% of the points played after her first serve, and won 15 of 18 points when she reached the net.
Not only was her tennis suitable for the biggest stage of the event: She said her thinking was the same.
“I’m very happy to have played my first big game on the Central Court and won because I don’t have great memories of my first step on the other central court in tournaments like the US Open or the Australian Open, and the French Open.”
“It’s an experience, you know. You learn from everything. I’m obviously very happy that today I played a full game from the first point to the last.”
Reversing its Wimbledon trend: Bad Homburg champions Garcia have already won their last seven games. However, entering this year’s championship, she had lost a record in her career on the grass court major. She had not won a Wimbledon match since reaching the final 16 in 2017. She also reached the third round in 2014.
To match his best performance at the All-England Club, Garcia will have to beat another player: No.33 Zhang Shuai. Zhang, who entered the standings after Madison Keys withdrew from the championship due to injury, saved three set points in the first set of her 7-6 (6), 6-2 victory over Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk.
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Zhang has beaten Garcia twice in three career matches, including before Wimbledon and earlier this year. She won 6-4, 6-0 in the first round of Wimbledon in 2019, and also won the semifinals in Lyon in February on her way to winning the title.
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