Eye of the Coach #64: How Caroline Garcia became a Grand Slam title contender
Once a player who would find the pressure too much to handle, Caroline Garcia is playing the tennis of her life. Coach Patrick Mouratoglou explains why
Caroline Garcia has been on fire this summer, first qualifying for the main draw and then winning the title in Cincinnati, and now marching into the semi-finals of the US Open, playing with a new-found freedom.
In the latest episode of Eye of the Coach, Patrick Mouratoglou explains what’s changed for the Frenchwoman to make her a real threat to finally fulfil her potential and win a Grand Slam title.
Key Moments of Mouratoglou’s words on Garcia
00’13
“If she keeps this mindset, she will remain a Grand Slam contender. That’s a question of mindset.”
00’23
“She always had a great volley, but there was a lot of hesitation in her game and a lot of people have tried to make her play a different tennis from this one because she always had this forehand with spin that is super powerful. There was always this hesitation between hitting hard from the baseline without missing from a bit behind and coming forward to be more aggressive, but making potentially more errors. In her mind
that was not super clear. Now something clicked.”
0’48
“Now she accepts to miss. It doesn’t make her miss more, but she accepts to miss knowing that she’s going to play super aggressive tennis and full tennis.”
She never steps back, you’re under pressure all the time. She puts crazy pressure, hitting every shot fully
Patrick Mouratoglou on Caroline Garcia
and from close to the baseline
0’55
“She never steps back, you’re under pressure all the time. She puts crazy pressure, hitting every shot fully
and from close to the baseline.”
1’07
The number of balls she hits half volley from the baseline, like : a ball comes to her with a lot of pace, a lot of depth. She re-accelerates the ball without moving backwards. So imagine the pressure the opponents feels.
1’19
If she maintains that mindset, she’s going to be dangerous for the future.
