Caroline Garcia and coach Bertrand reunited

Five months after the end of their collaboration, coach and player are back together again

Mar 13, 2023; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Caroline Garcia (FRA) celebrates after defeating Leylah Fernandez (CAN) in her fourth round match during the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden (AI/Reuters/Panoramic)

Jérémy Baudu

April 6, 2023

After a disappointing American swing with a defeat in the round of 16 in Indian Wells and her first match in Miami, both times against Sorana Cirstea, Caroline Garcia decided to take things in hand before the start of the clay court season. The newspaper L’Equipe revealed on Thursday that the Frenchwoman had resumed her collaboration with her former coach Bertrand Perret.

The latter had suddenly left the team of the current world No 4 in October 2022, after a fabulous summer that led to a title in Cincinnati and a semi-final at the US Open. He revealed at the time that he left because of “problems” that had “ended up ruining the atmosphere” within the group. After stopping her collaboration with Juan Pablo Guzman, and the departure of her physical trainer, Garcia has decided to reunite with Perret.

“We really had a great season together last year. He understands my style of play. It’s a little atypical compared to what is done on the circuit, but we understand it and we believe in it. The way Bertrand helped me last year worked well and I want to continue the adventure like that,” she explained.

Garcia: “The reasons are behind us and are part of the past”

Despite winning two finals in 2023, Caroline Garcia seems to have lost the form and the state of mind that she managed to find last year. After the US swing, the 29-year-old put down her racquet to reflect and decided to bring back Perret to try to get the machine going again, without thinking about past problems: a coach with whom she has a special connection, as she confided in the columns of L’Equipe.

“We spoke several times with Bertrand. We met in Monterrey, we talked about my tennis and life in general. I have the impression that there is still a page that can be written. We haven’t reached the end of our collaboration, I want to see what we can achieve. My game can still progress well. In fact, I think that not everyone understands my game and the way I train or talks to me about it properly. I don’t find a connection with a lot of people on how I want to play. With Bertrand, we have that connection. Might as well use it to get to the top.

“The reasons are behind us and are in the past. Today, we both want to put last year behind us, to take all the positive, everything we did well together with the team to help me get back into the top 10. And build on these positive experiences to bounce back. We don’t want to think about what happened anymore.”

Garcia and Perret are about to move to the National Training Center in the Paris area to prepare for the first qualifying round of the Billie Jean King Cup between France and Great Britain, which will take place on April 14 and 15.