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Caroline Garcia tweets out the nerves ahead of Australian Open victory over Naomi Osaka

Hours before she took to Rod Laver Arena, the No. 16 seed logged on.

ByBaseline Staff

Published Jan 15, 2024

On Monday night inside Rod Laver Arena, Caroline Garcia looked unflappable in defeating four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in the first round of the Australian Open.

On Monday afternoon, she wasn't feeling that way.

"You should have seen me at 4 p.m. today," the former world No. 4, seeded No. 16 in Melbourne, told reporters after the match with a smile.

Overwhelmed by what was at stake—a night session match in Rod Laver Arena, playing Osaka in the former No. 1's first Grand Slam match after her 2023 maternity leave, at a tournament Osaka had won twice—the Frenchwoman admitted to being a bundle of nerves prior to the match.

She handled them in unqiue fashion. Hours before she stepped on court against Osaka, Garcia logged on to X, the platform formerly called Twitter, typed out what she was feeling, and pressed send.

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"Sometimes there is a lot of going on," Garcia continued. "Sometimes, I'm really definitely sometimes struggling with my emotion. On court I'm not always having a great time lately.

"We are trying to work on it. Sometimes it's overwhelming. Definitely to be playing first round Naomi, coming back, great, great player, playing very late match, I was overwhelmed and I was scared to step out there.

"Sometime is good to let emotion out, embrace it. Then you try the best you can."

Did it help? Perhaps. Garcia never faced a break point in the match, and stood tall during high-quality baseline exchanges to score her first-ever win against Osaka. The former WTA Finals champion was complimentary of the Osaka's level in the early stages of her comeback, and the victory is one that Garcia said she'd remember for a long time.

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"I know I was going to be stressed, but I was hoping I was not going to be the only one," she said.

"At 5-4 I told my coach, Pressure is coming up, I have to serve it out, and I feel more and more stress.

"It was just really point at a time today. It's definitely important. It will definitely give me confidence to keep trying and keep learning to manage all of that better. It can help me do great things, or at least enjoy the ride."