It’s been a frustrating year for the still promising 24 year old Frenchwoman, Caroline Garcia. Injury, early this season, meant that Garcia could not galvanize the momentum that saw her swoop to pinch Konta’s WTA Finals slot last year. Garcia now heads to the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open looking to take advantage of a good draw and re-ignite her season.
Garcia Looking to Wuhan to Address Consistency Issues
In her last tournament, at the Pan Pacific Open, Garcia looked back to her crisp best in seeing off the tricky Pavlyuchenkova in the Round of 16. However, in the next match against Donna Vekic, edgy nervousness kicked in and the quarterfinal slipped away. This has been the story of Garcia’s season so far. Last season’s blistering form is not that far away, you sense- focus is required to return to those heights.
Wuhan Draw Gives Garcia a Chance of a Deep Run
Given the ultra-competitive nature of WTA tennis at the moment, you need to take the breaks that the draw sometimes affords you. First up for Garcia is the Czech qualifier, Katerina Siniakova. The head-to-head stands at 2-2. Siniakova has had a poor season also, and Garcia will fancy her chances in this one.
Out of sorts Garbine Muguruza is a potential Round of 16 clash. Garcia is also on a potential semi-final collision course with Caroline Wozniacki. Neither the Spaniard nor the Dane looked anywhere near their best recently, both suffering early defeats in Tokyo.
Sloane Stephens’ Early Exit Slackens the Strength of the Tournament
Anett Kontaveit caused the first upset in Wuhan, inflicting a third successive defeat for the 2017 US Open champion, Sloane Stephens. A strong field still remains, including Svitolina, Halep and Osaka. However, on a good day, Garcia is a match for anyone.
Wuhan represents a great chance for Garcia to salvage her season.
