Aryna Sabalenka was excellent in New York, but Caroline Garcia wasn’t too sure about her title-winning credentials…
The 27-year-old had already lost two Grand Slam finals and a semifinal in 2025 before heading to New York in a bid to finish her major campaign on a high.
Defeating the likes of Leylah Fernandez, Marketa Vondrousova, and Jessica Pegula at Flushing Meadows, Sabalenka returned to the US Open championship match for the third year in a row.
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Standing between her and the title was the home-favorite, Amanda Anisimova, who had beaten Sabalenka at Wimbledon a few months earlier.
Getting her revenge in style, Sabalenka secured the win in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6, taking her Grand Slam tally to four.
Reflecting on Sabalenka’s US Open campaign, former world number four Garcia has revealed why she thought the Belarusian might miss out on the trophy.
Caroline Garcia thought Aryna Sabalenka might be too emotional to win the US Open
Appearing as a guest on the latest episode of the ‘Roland Garros podcast’, Garcia shared her thoughts on Sabalenka’s US Open win.
“She plays with all of her emotion. Sometimes, she may have lost a couple of matches because of that, but probably she won a lot because she played with her heart and her emotions,” said Garcia.
“She was one of the favorites, but she said if she didn’t win a Slam this year, it would’ve been a disappointing year, so she really wanted it.
“Sometimes when you want something too much, you don’t make it happen. I thought at one moment she would get too emotional about it, but it looked like she learned a lot from her previous final.”
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Garcia proceeded to comment on the improvements Sabalenka has made to her game since they last played in 2022.
“I think since the last time I played her, she became the Aryna Sabalenka we now know, the world number one, Grand Slam winner,” she said.
“Obviously, she still had the very same strengths; she was powerful. Wants to take advantage, controls the game with a big serve, which is way more consistent now than it was at one moment in her career. She can still sometimes have bad moments and make more double faults, but most of the time it’s quite solid, and she gets a lot of free points out of it, or at least a short ball, where she can manage with the forehand.
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“She moves well for how tall she is and has that presence. She’s obviously loud when she hits the ball, but she more imposes herself.”
Garcia has been impressed with the improvements Sabalenka has made over recent years, but how did they fare against each other on the WTA Tour?
Aryna Sabalenka and Caroline Garcia’s head-to-head record
Sabalenka and Garcia met five times in total, with the latter edging their head-to-head 3-2.
MatchWinnerLoserScore2022 WTA Finals – FCaroline GarciaAryna Sabalenka7-6, 6-42022 Cincinnati Open – SFCaroline GarciaAryna Sabalenka6-2, 4-6, 6-12018 WTA Elite Trophy – RRCaroline GarciaAryna Sabalenka6-4, 6-42018 China Open – 3RAryna SabalenkaCaroline Garcia5-7, 7-6, 6-02018 Cincinnati Open – 3RAryna SabalenkaCaroline Garcia6-4, 3-6, 7-5Aryna Sabalenka and Caroline Garcia’s head-to-head record
After losing their first two matches, Garcia won three in a row, two of which came en route to the biggest titles of her career.
Taking Sabalenka down in the Cincinnati Open semis in 2022, Garcia went on to pick up her third WTA 1000 title with a win over Petra Kvitova in the final.
Then, later that same year, the pair met in the final of the WTA Finals, facing off with the title on the line in Fort Worth.
Securing the win in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4, Garcia became just the second Frenchwoman to win the title, after Amelie Mauresmo’s triumph in 2005.
Garcia is now retired from tennis, having played her final match at this year’s US Open, but surely won’t forget her wins over Sabalenka any time soon.
Sabalenka, on the other hand, is still going strong and, despite withdrawing from the upcoming China Open, is expected to return for the event in Wuhan, which begins on October 6.