A Surprising WTA Finals Victory Mirrors the Year in Women’s Tennis

“All I knew about was the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport,” Garcia said.

But her first trip to Texas turned out to be a joyride, and Monday was so transcendent that she neglected to do her trademark “Fly with Caro” airplane celebration in victory.

“It’s true! You’re right!” she said later when asked about it. “There was just so much emotion that I completely forgot the airplane. I’ll have to do it at the hotel or tomorrow.”

Garcia’s run in Fort Worth came despite splitting with her coach Bertrand Perret, a key figure in Garcia’s revival. Perret quit shortly before the WTA Finals.

“These last few weeks, there have been problems, and they ended up ruining the atmosphere,” he told L’Équipe, the French sports publication. “I do this job for pleasure and there was less of it.”

Perret did not elaborate other than to say he had no problem with Garcia herself.

Instead of folding, Garcia quickly rebuilt, arriving at the WTA Finals with a coaching consultant, Juan Pablo Guzman, and her parents, Louis-Paul and Mylène; Louis-Paul, long the architect of his daughter’s career, served again as the principal coach for the week.

“Of course it was unexpected and complicated to handle,” Caroline Garcia said of Perret’s resignation. “I tried to rebound and keep in mind all the good memories we made this year and all we had worked on.”

Much has changed this year in the women’s game. The season began with Ashleigh Barty entrenched at No. 1 after winning her home Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open, in January.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/08/sports/tennis/garcia-wta-finals-sabalenka.html