Caroline Garcia is the top seed in a packed draw in the second Adelaide International tournament, that features six Grand Slam champions.
Garcia was originally the fourth seed, but Iga Swiatek (right shoulder injury), Ons Jabeur (lower back injury), and Jessica Pegula (change of schedule) all withdrew after the draw was made.
The draw also features Grand Slam champions including Garbine Muguruza, Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova, Elena Rybakina, Jelena Ostapenko, and Barbora Krejcikova. The field is so strong that Wimbledon 2021 runner-up and No.31 Karolina Pliskova had to qualify for the main draw.
Caroline Garcia’s incredible finish to 2022
The Frenchwoman ended 2021 with her lowest ranking since 2013, outside the Top 70. She continued to struggle with form in singles competition until the second half of the season, where she picked up four titles.
The first being on the grass in Bad Homburg, in the lead up to Wimbledon. After reaching the fourth round at SW19, Garcia continued her upturn in form by winning a title on the clay of Warsaw, which included a shock victory over No.1 Swiatek.
Garcia then stepped it up a gear when she won a WTA 1000 title in Cincinnati, becoming the first qualifier to do so. She followed it up by reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal, at the US Open.
These results enabled her to reach the WTA Finals, for the second time in her career, which was confirmed after beating Rebecca Marino in the first round of Guadalajara.
The 29-year-old capped off her incredible year by winning the WTA Finals, in Fort Worth, beating Aryna Sabalenka in the final. As a result Garcia jumped up to No.4, equalling her career-high ranking that she also achieved back in 2018.
A dream finish to an incredible season 🤠🏆@CaroGarcia | #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/S4RxwThHqd
— wta (@WTA) November 8, 2022
Garcia now has her sights fully set on winning a Major title. She told Eurosport, “After reaching the semis at the US Open and then winning the WTA Finals, winning a Grand Slam becomes a concrete dream, a tangible one, even if there is still a long way to go. I still have seven matches to win to get a Grand Slam. The road is not shorter now that I won the Masters.
“But I guess it makes me even more confident that it’s not impossible. It shows me that I’m able to go for a Grand Slam title. It will be two challenging weeks in many areas for sure, but I have the style and the level of play to do it. Now I know how to deal with bad days. That doesn’t mean I’ll be able to go over and beat the opponent that day, but I have the skills to do it so I’m much more confident.”
Garcia has made a positive start to 2023, winning her two matches in the inaugural United Cup, despite France not making it through the group stages.
As the top seed in Adelaide, the Frenchwoman receives a bye for the second round where she will face either Anastasia Potapova or Katerina Siniakova. After Adelaide, Garcia will head to Melbourne for the Australian Open where she will look to conquer her dream of winning a maiden Grand Slam title.
Main Photo from Getty.
