November 08, (THEWILL) – In Fort Worth, Caroline Garcia defeated Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets to win the WTA Finals title. She was at her clinical best when she converted the match’s lone break point for the victory.
The Frenchwoman, who had been ranked below the top 70 as recently as June, closed off a spectacular comeback season by capturing the biggest championship of her career thus far with a 7-6(4) 6-4 victory.
Before deciding to switch to a more aggressive style, Garcia was ranked No. 75 when June rolled around. She had begun the year ranked No. 74. The switch has paid off so far as the results demonstrate. She won the Bad Homburg championship and took the Western & Southern Open and Poland Open before Flushing Meadows.
The US Open semi-finals, where she lost to Ons Jabeuer, represented Garcia’s best performance at a Grand Slam. At the WTA Finals, where she unexpectedly parted ways with coach Bertrand Perret just before the season-ending tournament, Garcia defeated Coco Gauff and Daria Kasatkina in the group stages to advance to the semifinals, where she lost in straight sets to Iga Swiatek.
And while Garcia benefited from Sabalenka defeating Swiatek in the semifinals, Garcia advanced to the championship match by easily defeating Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-2. Beating Sabalenka for the WTA trophy is a fitting way for Garcia to finish the year.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
