Last French representative in the running, Caroline Garcia was eliminated in the round of 16 by the Polish Magda Linette (7-6 (7/3), 6-4).
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© WILLIAM WEST / AFP
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EShe was one of the big favorites for the final victory. Dropped by her service, committing too many unforced errors, the French Caroline Garcia was eliminated on Monday January 23 in the round of 16 of the Australian Open by the Polish Magda Linette (45th), winner in two sets (7-6 ( 7/3), 6-4).
After her semi-final at the US Open and her title at the end of the year Masters, the best of her career at 29, Caroline Garcia was expected in Melbourne. But his game while taking risks had not allowed him to gain confidence during the first three rounds and the fourth, against Magda Linette, will therefore have been fatal to him.
“I don’t believe it… I don’t understand what happened… I don’t have the words,” admitted Linette, who will celebrate her 31st birthday on February 12 and who had never passed the third round of a grand slam tournament. “The key was my serve, because it punished me when I was not effective on my face-off,” said the Pole, who posted a success rate of 75% of first serves. For his part, Garcia, whose very risky game is very dependent on his own service, managed only 49% of first serves.
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Regrets on the first set
But the defeat of Caroline Garcia is far from being reduced to a simple failure in the service. The French also conceded 33 unforced errors for 27 winning strokes, against 14 unforced errors and 25 winning strokes for Linette. And “Caro” will be able to harbor regrets on the first set since she started the match with a double break which allowed her to break away 3-0, before serving for the set at 5-4, but Magda Linette picked up before dominating the tie-break.
In the second round, the Habs, as loudly encouraged by French fans, repeatedly expressed their growing frustration by hitting their racket on the ground or with a “I can’t take it anymore!” », shouted from the first game of the round. The Pole made the decisive break to lead 5-4 and qualified on her first match point, on her serve.
It is therefore Magda Linette, who had never passed the third round in a grand slam, who will face the Czech Karolina Pliskova (31e) for a place in half. The latter eliminated the Chinese Shuai Zhang (22e) 6-0, 6-4 in less than an hour. The other quarter-final at the bottom of the table will oppose Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (5e) to the Croatian Donna Vekic (64e).