Garcia & Kristina Mladenovic Win French Open Women’s Doubles Title

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia is a Grand Slam champion…

The 22-year-old part-Spanish tennis player and her partner Kristina Mladenovic gave the Paris crowd a home victory to cheer as they won the women’s doubles title at the French Open.

The French duo, seeded seventh, beat Russian fifth seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-3 2-6 6-4.

The rare triumph for the home nation gives Garcia and Mladenovic their first Grand Slam title, having only teamed up this year with a target of playing at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

They have now won titles in Charleston, Stuttgart, Madrid and Paris.

The last French victors in women’s doubles in the clay-court major at Roland Garros were Gail Chanfreau and Francoise Durr, who won in 1970 and then defended their title the following year.

“So there are the big tournaments that we have already won, which is a good success in itself, but winning a Grand Slam, and here in Roland Garros, it’s 10 steps above what is logical or normal,” Mladenovic said. “To win here with Caroline at Roland Garros, it’s incredible.”

Mladenovic and Garcia, who have lost just one match together on clay this season, got off to a bright start and built a 5-0 lead.

Makarova and Vesnina fought hard and saved six set points before Mladenovic served out the opener. But a change in the momentum saw the Russians take control of the match as they leveled it by taking the second set.

Mladenovic and Garcia kept their composure as pressure mounted toward the end of the decider, winning 12 of the last 15 points.

Garcia Reaches Women’s Doubles Final at the French Open

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia has reached her first Grand Slam women’s doubles final…

The 22-year-old part-Spanish tennis player and her partner Kristina Mladenovic beat Margarita Gasparyan and Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in Friday’s semifinal at the French Open.

The all-French team, the obvious local favorites at Roland Garros, will face off against Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina of Russia in the final.

Last year, Garcia reached the third round at the French Open with then partner Katarina Srebotnik.

But this year, Garcia and Mladenovic won the women’s doubles title at the Mutua Madrid Open, defeating the No. 1 seeded team of Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza in the final, 6–4, 6–4.

Garcia Outlasts Virginie Razzano to Reach Strasbourg Final

Posted on May 20, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia is looking to double up on her career WTA singles titles…

The 22-year-old half-Spanish tennis player, who currently has one title under belt, outlasted France’s Virginie Razzano in an epic encounter to reach the final of the Internationaux de Strasbourg tournament.

Leading 5-3 in the final set Garcia looked on course to close out the match in relative comfort. But, Razzano ensured a dramatic finish by breaking back in the next game before eventually succumbing, 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-5.

“It feels great. I’ve watched Virginie for as long as I can remember,” Garcia said. “She’s a great player and a bit of an idol, so to not only play her but beat her was an amazing experience.

“It’s important for my confidence to get wins like this and in finals, especially ahead of Roland Garros next week. It was a fighting performance. Losing that first set was tough but I came back and got through.”

Garcia will face qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who dismantled No.4 seed Kristina Mladenovic, 6-1, 6-1, in exactly an hour.

Garcia has won all three of her previous meetings with Lucic-Baroni, including a match earlier this year in Miami.

This is Garcia’s first WTA singles final of the year, her fourth overall.

Garcia Defeats No. 5 Seed Ana Ivanovic at the BNP Paribas Open

Posted on March 17, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia is shaking things up at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells …

During Monday’s women’s action, the 21-year-old part-Spanish professional tennis player sent No. 5 seed Ana Ivanovic packing after a three-set thriller in the third round.

Garcia, the No. 25 seed, defeated Ivanovic 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

It appeared Ivanovic would lose in straight sets as she was down 5-4 in the second set with Garcia serving to possibly close out the match, but Ivanovic mustered a three-game streak to keep herself alive, even if briefly.

In the third set, with Garcia serving while ahead 3-2, the game went back and forth in deuce, before Garcia pulled through. From there, she cruised to victory.

It’s Garcia’s second victory over Ivanovic this year. She previously beat the Serbian player in straight sets in the semifinals at the 2015 Monterrey Open. She’d eventually lose to Timea Bacsinszky in the final.

Garcia, currently ranked No. 28 in the world, will next face No. 24 seed Sabine Lisicki in the fourth round.

Garcia Upsets Agnieszka Radwanska at China’s Wuhan Open

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia has upset on the brain…

Following her first-round win over Venus Williams, the 20-year-old half-Spanish tennis player pulled off another big upset win, defeating fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska on Monday at the inaugural Wuhan Open in China.

Garcia went for broke, continuing to hit big ground strokes despite piling up unforced errors as she tried to keep Radwanska on the back foot.

“It’s pretty different game between Venus and Radwanska, but I did the same game for myself,” Garcia said. “Against these kind of girls like Radwanska you have to do (this kind) of game … sometime you can miss, but I knew it was the only way I can win this today.”

Garcia, currently ranked No. 41 in the world, avenged a loss to Radwańska at the Mutua Madrid Open in May, where she’d reached the quarterfinals of a Premier WTA event for the first time. She’d defeated Angelique Kerber in the first round after the German retired with a lower back injury, receiving a walkover from Maria Kirilenko after the Russian withdrew with a wrist injury, and then defeating tenth seed Sara Errani in three sets in the third round. She eventually lost to third seed Radwańska in the final eight stage, in three sets.

Garcia: The Unofficial MVP During France’s Fed Cup Matches Against the United States

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia is having a banner year… And, she’s got this week’s Fed Cup results to prove it.

The 20-year-old half-Spanish tennis player almost singlehandedly led France to a 3-2 upset of the United States in the international Fed Cup competition on Sunday.

Garcia had a hand in all three of her country’s victories. She beat the USA’s Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens in singles matches early in the meet before joining teammate Virginie Razzano to win the decisive doubles match.

“I’m not sure what I’m doing differently,” she said. “I don’t know. I guess it’s working, so I’ll try to keep doing it, whatever it is.”

France qualified for the World Group in 2015 and will compete for the Fed Cup championship.

The USA is relegated to World Group II for next year.

Garcia and Razzano beat Stephens and Keys 6-2, 7-5 in the fifth and deciding match of the best-of-five, two-day competition held at Chaifetz Arena on the campus of Saint Louis University.

Garcia, ranked 51st in the world, came from out of nowhere to capture her first WTA championships in winning both the singles and double titles in the Claro Open Colsanitas in Bogota, Columbia, on April 13.

She carried the momentum from those victories into the Fed Cup.

“She was totally amazing, unbelievable,” France captain Amelie Mauresmo said. “She really rose to the occasion and was fearless.”

Garcia and Razzano used a pair of nifty passing shots to break Stephens’ serve in the 11th game of the second set. The pair won the lengthy 14-point game to take a 6-5 lead. Razzano then served out the match.

Garcia began her run by beating Stephens 6-3, 6-2 in the opening match on Saturday.

“She was the star of the weekend,” USA captain Mary Jo Fernandez said. “I never thought that she got nervous in any of the matches. She’s really aggressive and it’s all coming together.”

France played Sunday without its top player, Alize Cornet, who suffered a groin injury in a three-set loss to Keys on Saturday.

Fernandez took a chance on using Keys and Stephens in the series-deciding doubles match. The duo of Lauren Davis and Christina McHalewas originally slated to play.

But Fernandez chose to go with the two singles players even though they were coming off tough matches earlier in the day. Keys had just 35 minutes of rest after her loss to Garcia.

“I was trying to go with the players that had big weapons and (could) impose their game on the French,” Fernandez said.

Said Keys: “Not very often do you finish a match and go out again (35) minutes later. I was a little bit more tired.”

Garcia stuns Former World No. 1 Jelena Jankovic to Claim Her First-Ever WTA Title

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

The first time’s the charm for Caroline Garcia…

Competing in her first-ever WTA title match, the 20-year-old half-Spanish tennis player from France defeated defending champion and former World No. 1 Jelena Jankovic in straight sets at the Copa Claro Colsanitas in Colombia on Sunday.

With her 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Jankovic, Garcia has captured the first WTA title of her professional career.

It was the first win against a Top 10 player for Garcia, who turned pro in 2011.

Jankovic broke in the first game of the match, but the Garcia, ranked No. 5 in the tournament, took over from there, breaking right back. After that, she never fell behind again, taking six of the next eight games to take the first set.

Then, Garcia broke early in the second set en route to a 3-1 lead. Jankovic caught up to 3-all but Garcia broke again and eventually served out the match, firing back-to-back aces to bring up match point before hitting a phenomenal forehand winner for the victory.

Going into the match, Garcia was 0-6 lifetime against Top 10 players.

But Garcia’s winning ways didn’t end there…

Before winning her first WTA singles title, Garcia partnered with Lara Arruabarrena to claim the doubles title.

Garcia became the first player in nearly two years to pull off a singles-doubles sweep at a WTA-level event with Serena Williams being the last one at the Olympics.

Garcia Defeats Vania King to Reach Her First WTA Women’s Final

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia is one win away from the first Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) title of her promising professional career…

The 20-year-old half-Spanish tennis player from France, currently ranked No. 74 in the world, posted a 6-2, 6-4 win over American Vania King in the semifinals.

Garcia, the tournament’s fifth-seed, will next face Jelena Jankovic in the Claro Open Colsanitas championship match on Sunday.

It’s the first WTA final for Garcia, whose best previous result was a semifinal appearance in Acapulco back in February.

Garcia turned pro in 2011. Following her performance against Maria Sharapova at the 2011 French Open, only her second Grand Slam, Andy Murray tweeted that Garcia was destined to become world No. 1, and Martina Navratilova said, “She has the goods.”

Asked on Tennis Channel if she was looking at Garcia the way she had looked at Steffi Graf at the same age, Navratilova replied, “Absolutely!”

The 2014 Bogota titlist will earn $43,000.

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