{"id":152617,"date":"2025-09-18T18:26:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T18:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/152617\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T18:26:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T18:26:07","slug":"i-dont-hate-tennis-i-hated-where-i-was-at-that-moment-caroline-garcia-discusses-her-farewell-at-us-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/152617\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI don\u2019t hate tennis\u2014I hated where I was at that moment\u201d Caroline Garcia discusses her farewell at US Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

Caroline Garcia<\/a> has never been one to hide her emotions on court. But as she closes the chapter on her professional career, the French star has offered raw honesty about the mental toll of life at the top and why she chose to leave the sport at just 30 years old.\u201cThe two previous seasons were very tough for me,\u201d \u00a0Garcia explained in a conversation with\u00a0Courtside Connection<\/a>\u00a0– the Roland Garros podcast.\u00a0 \u201cI was disappointed with my results, but more than that, I wasn\u2019t sleeping well, my mood was off, and I told my husband: when I\u2019m done, I\u2019ll never play tennis again. I\u2019ll never step on court again.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Garcia, the problem was not the sport itself. \u201cI didn\u2019t actually hate tennis. I hated where I was at that moment\u2014all the stress and expectations I was putting on myself.\u201d With the help of her psychologist and her husband, she rediscovered enjoyment and allowed herself to compete one final season, this time on her own terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was important for me to stop because I decided to, not because my body couldn\u2019t handle it or because I hated tennis,\u201d she explained. \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m very much at peace with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRoland-Garros was my dream\u201d<\/p>\n

When Garcia announced her retirement, she did it on the stage closest to her heart: Roland-Garros. Twice a doubles champion in Paris, she always carried the dream of lifting the singles trophy in front of the French crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning Roland-Garros in singles was my goal, my dream,\u201d she admitted. \u201cKnowing I would never do that was emotional. But I did win it in doubles, and that\u2019s very special\u2014especially the second one, which was so unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Injury meant she was far from her best prepared for her final French Open, but she refused to let that stop her from playing. \u201cI did everything\u2014physio, fitness, treatment\u2014just to be on court,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cMany times at Roland-Garros I played overstressed and couldn\u2019t enjoy it. This time, it was about feeling the love of the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was loud, hectic, exhausting\u201d<\/p>\n

Her true farewell came later that summer in New York. Garcia accepted a wildcard into the US Open, determined not to let injuries make Roland-Garros her last stop. \u201cI didn\u2019t want Roland-Garros to be my very last tournament,\u201d she explained. \u201cI prepared really well for Cincinnati and the US Open, knowing it would be the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US Open had been the scene of her best Slam result, a semi-final run in 2022. \u201cEvery match that tournament was solid. It was my best Slam, and it was important because I enjoyed myself as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

But for Garcia, the event\u2019s atmosphere was as memorable as the results. \u201cIt\u2019s always loud, hectic, exhausting,\u201d she laughed. \u201cIn 2022, during my night match at Armstrong, I asked the umpire after the warm-up, \u2018Is it always this loud?\u2019 She said yes. You just have to get used to the permanent buzz. Even when you go back to Manhattan, it\u2019s still loud. The city never sleeps.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPetra gave me no time\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking back, Garcia doesn\u2019t shy away from naming her toughest rivals\u2014and two names instantly come to mind. \u201cPetra Kvitov\u00e1 gave me no time,\u201d she said without hesitation. \u201cShe hit so hard and so flat, I never had time to react. It was like the ball was on me before I\u2019d even finished my swing. Playing her indoors was even worse\u2014everything was faster, and she could take the racquet right out of my hands. Against Petra, I always felt I had to go for broke, because if I played safe, I was done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simona Halep, meanwhile, brought a completely different challenge. \u201cShe made you work for every single point,\u201d Garcia recalled. \u201cWith Simona, you could hit three, four, five good shots and she\u2019d still send one more ball back. Against her I had to be aggressive and really go for my shots, but even then she could make me play one more ball every time. It was exhausting mentally as much as physically.\u201d<\/p>\n

The contrast between the two opponents forced Garcia to adapt in opposite directions. \u201cWith Petra, I needed to react faster and try to take time away from her, even though that was her strength. With Simona, it was about patience and discipline\u2014finding the right moment to step in without rushing. They were very different tests, but both of them pushed me to my limits.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Caroline Garcia has never been one to hide her emotions on court. But as she closes the chapter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":{"0":"post-152617","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}