What’s the first thing you do when you survive a 6-7 (7), 6-3, 7-5 struggle with a Top 5 player in two hours and 44 grueling minutes? If you’re Caroline Garcia, you stick your arms out, start running across the court, and pretend that you’re a plane about to take off. This is Garcia’s signature post-win celebration, one that could be seen as a new twist on her countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s traditional whirling-dervish victory vault.
If ever there were a moment to forego her flying leap, though, this was probably it. Garcia had just prevailed in a see-saw marathon with Elina Svitolina that she described as “an incredible battle on every single point.” Now, on Friday, she’ll have to come back to the same court to face the best player in Singapore so far, Caroline Wozniacki, for a spot in the semifinals. But Garcia was too pleased with her performance, at this tournament and over the last month, not to revel in it for a second or two.
Getting here hadn’t been easy; she had to win the biggest events of her career, in Wuhan and Beijing, to qualify. And despite the confidence she gained from those results, she didn’t find it any easier to make her debut in Singapore. Garcia was nervous and flat in her opening match against Simona Halep on Tuesday, and lost in two quick sets.
“I was very stressed to be here,” Garcia said, “then I started to enjoy it.”
