Earlier in the week, this writer wrote a piece talking about Gilles Simon and the French crowd. It’s been made pretty clear that the French fans hold high expectations on their players given their history as a tennis nation, but the results for the them in their home slam are few, far, and between. The closest a Frenchman or French woman has come to getting a sniff of the title were Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on the men’s side and Marion Bartoli on the women’s side. All three of these players have reached the semifinals but never a final. Caroline Garcia, being only 21 years old, is the next hope for the French tennis.
After her near upset of Maria Sharapova at the 2011 French Open, Garcia would become a name that we would get used to hearing often once she developed and that she has. Andy Murray said that she would become world number one eventually. Well to get to that world number one first, she’s going to have to learn how to play on the the main courts of the Grand Slams. Here’s what she said on playing on Chatrier: “I made that request. I wanted to play on a smaller court. But that’s the way it is. They decided to organize the match on center court, and I practiced for the whole week. But it’s very different to practice.”
We’re not going to deny the facts, she is immensely talented. She has the power on both wings to compete with anyone on the courts. Tennis isn’t just talent though, it’s hard work and mental, really mental. If anything, tennis is more mental than anything else. You have to believe you can win, you have to believe you can compete with the best. By asking to be moved from Chatrier, Garcia is implying to us she has no belief in her abilities to win. Her other quote from the press conference confirms that as she said, “It’s very tough for me to play in Paris, far more difficult than in other tournaments. I’m quite emotional at times. ... So far being emotional hasn’t helped me [here], so I will continue to work and to make strides.”
As we have brought up earlier, she is only 21 years old. She has one title to her name in Bogota and made two other finals this year, losing both to Timea Bacsinszky. There’s plenty of more time for her to get her act together as this writer sees her as a future Grand Slam champion in the near future. Her power game is more suited for hard courts, but who knows one day, she may bring home France the country’s first title in its home slam since 1967. Well first things first for Garcia is to get herself together, you don’t just get mentally stronger overnight. It may take a few years time, but we believe that when she does get there,