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Now that she is retired, Caroline Garcia has taken time to reflect on her 14-year tennis career and to openly discuss what she believes kept her from reaching the ultimate milestone: a Grand Slam title.
The French star shared deep insight into both her game style and coaching system, admitting that the lack of a “Plan B” held her back from going further in the biggest tournaments. While her bold, aggressive play brought her plenty of success, including a WTA Finals title and a career-high ranking of No. 4, Garcia believes that a more adaptable approach could have changed everything.
One game plan may work in a great deal of matches, but some situations require to switch up a bit, and Garcia feels that she was never instructed how to adapt in that way. Speaking on her own Tennis Insider Club podcast, the 32-year-old, whose best Grand Slam result was the 2022 US Open semifinal, pinpointed the missing piece of the puzzle in her game:
“It’s very unclear sometime what it means to win a Slam. You don’t really know what you have to do to achieve it. I should have added in my game more an option B.”
Garcia explained that her style was mostly risky and aggressive, an approach her father strongly encouraged. However, she now realizes that there were moments when a different strategy was necessary to secure the win, and she was never taught how to make that adjustment.
“My dad wanted me to be aggressive, do winners, but there were some days when I like, either was not feeling it, I was too stressed, and I was not able to do it,” Garcia said. “It was only one way for me to play, didn’t open me to other way. I was like you don’t know how to do the rest.”
She admitted that nobody ever taught her how to adapt when things were not working:
“Well maybe if I spend time doing it, maybe I can learn. And maybe I will use it only for five matches a year, but maybe those five matches a year will allow me to do one step more in the Slams. So I think that’s what I missed. Learning an option B, but also having someone to tell me how to do option B.”
Garcia bid farewell to professional tennis at the 2025 US Open, closing her career with a first-round loss to Kamilla Rakhimova, 6-4 4-6 6-3.
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