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HENGQIN LIFE WTA ELITE TROPHY ZHUHAI

November 1, 2018

Caroline Garcia

Zhuhai, China

A. BARTY/C. Garcia

6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you just talk through the match. I know it was the first one for you here, but you've been practicing on the court. How differently did it play necessarily than what you thought it would?
CAROLINE GARCIA: Yeah, it was a very difficult match for me today. I think she played great, but I wasn't feeling very good. You know, I didn't have the rhythm I wanted. I didn't feel physically on my legs, moving the way I wanted.

It's a difficult start for me, of course. But I was happy to start on Thursday because I had some back pain when I go back to France last Monday.

It was a very complicated week for me. It was not really something I was looking for and I was expecting, so it was tough.

But I gave a lot of energy to recover and feel better. Today my back is better. But on court, because of the practice, you know, sometimes you have to adjust. You don't feel as good I wanted like it was in Beijing and Tianjin.

And today, I think Ash played a great match as well.

Q. The back pain you were feeling, was that new, a different type of back pain, or was it kind of the result of everything?
CAROLINE GARCIA: It was not what I used to have the past month. It was a regular pain. It was just -- I think it's when you say 'lock the back.' Suddenly you can't move. It's the worst four or five days you can spend ever.

It's already happened to me a couple of times. But it's always very painful. To do all the exercise, it gets you a lot of energy. And it was tough also to get this at the end of the year when I was feeling a little bit better and actually good. But everything, it's a lesson.

So I didn't feel good on court today. I want to give everything I have tomorrow to at least feel better and try to improve and do something. And it's a great match against Sabalenka.

Anyway if I want to have a chance, I have to go for it or I will have no chance.

Q. As well as the physical issues you spoke about, you seemed to be a bit distracted about a few of the decisions made by the on-court judges. You had a couple of conversations with the umpire. Can you talk --
CAROLINE GARCIA: It was one.

Q. It was one. Okay.
CAROLINE GARCIA: It was one. But, like, I don't know, when I served, the ball bounce and it was close to the line. There was a noise. We can't be, like, out call. We both stopped.

At the end, it was, like, I lost the point. And Ashleigh was happy to replay the point, but the umpire didn't let us replay the point.

It was like if she wants to replay the points, why not? She's the one who won the point and she's the one who wanted to replay, but he was like, No, you can't replay it.

So that was the only thing. It was weird actually.

Q. We know that this court is based in Zhuhai, which is near the coastline. Apart from healing your back pain, have you got any chance to go around the city? And also, what's your impression on Zhuhai?
CAROLINE GARCIA: I have some very good impression. I came two years ago and lot of improvement have been made. A lot of buildings have been built. It's pretty impressive how fast everything grow in China.

Outside of the practice, we are staying very close to a theater, so we went twice to see some shows. One was more like Chinese type. The other one actually was the French orchestra. It was a really great experience. It was the first time for me seeing a show like this live. It was a great experience. I was really glad. I was very glad to see the French orchestra in Zhuhai.

Q. So we have known that actually you topped the tournament in Tianjin and you got the championship. But the weather in Tianjin is pretty different from here. It was very cold back then. Now you're in Zhuhai which is a place where it has better or more comfortable weather. How do you adjust yourself in terms of traveling between cities, especially you have to adjust yourself to different weather during very short periods within different city?
CAROLINE GARCIA: Yeah, it was definitely very different weather. In Tianjin, it was pretty cold outside of the final day. We were wearing long sleeve and everything everyday.

But it was, like, two weeks ago. I got time to go back to France, to Leon, where it was pretty cold also. I mean, we arrived last Friday, so we have plenty of time to get used to the condition. We are playing on the indoor stadium, so it is not as cold as outside.

I think it's everyone has to adapt. We are used to different condition because that's what we all doing all year long.

But, yeah, nothing special. It's not like Tianjin was last week.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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