WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

August 21, 2022

Caroline Garcia

Press Conference

C. GARCIA/P. Kvitova

6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. Could you talk to us about some of your emotions after this win?

CAROLINE GARCIA: I mean, pure joy, I think. Just happiness. Every single win is very important. Every title is very special, 250, 1000, it's always very hard to describe it.

It's not happening so often, and you have to really like enjoy it. I'm really grateful for this great week of tennis, and to win another title, it's very special.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Coming here and the expectations that you had, how do you sort of sum up the start to the finish?

CAROLINE GARCIA: Yeah, I mean, I don't know how to describe that week, actually, because I came here on Wednesday night to get ready for quallies. First practice on hard court were not great. First tournament in Toronto was not great either.

Just trying to find my rhythm, to feel better, to get the body healthy and to adapt to the hard court, didn't play on hard since Miami, so I was not that confident when I arrived. Quallies was tough matches. I was really happy to be through and play another match in the main draw.

You know, every match every day was a new day, new challenge. Every time I had to be focused on myself, on my game, what can I do, how I can be more aggressive, how can I improve. Just one day at a time I ended up here today on the final and now lifting the trophy.

On the 1000, everything goes so fast. You have to refocus every morning. It's a tough challenge, but I'm really happy the way we made it through.

Q. Did you come here this week with the expectation and the belief that you are going to win, or does there come a point in the week when you get through a match where you start to think, hey, I might be able to get it done?

CAROLINE GARCIA: No (smiling). To be honest, not so much. It's not really the way I think about things.

Obviously when you arrive in quarter and semi, you are, like, yeah, you know it's getting closer, you know it's around the corner. I was already there. I was, like, I'm tired and it's only quarterfinal. It's still a long way to go to the end.

So I don't really think about it, like going all the way. I was really focused on every single match. Every single match it was a challenge. I was playing a good girl, like top 10, and I had to play my best every day, trying to recover as well, because it was a lot of matches in a row.

No, I mean, just things went on day after day and it went fast at the end.

Q. Congratulations. What do you think was the difference for you this week? How do you compare how you are feeling right now to, you know, how you were feeling at the start of the year in terms of how you are playing, how you are adapting your game and dealing with everything that's happening?

CAROLINE GARCIA: I think my pathway is for my game, and my mentality is way clearer. We made it clear which way I have to play, which direction I have to go. So when I step on court, I know what game style I have to play, and I know what I have to do, and always try to do it the best I can.

It's challenging, it's not easy, but at least to give 100%. I obviously feel way better on court, healthier. I can train. I can move the way I want.

It's already a big step and something huge. After, you know, like you set goals, you set what you want to do, and you try the best to achieve it.

Q. What do you think was the difference today against Petra than in your previous two matches against her?

CAROLINE GARCIA: Well, we played a couple times. I already won against her. It was not my first win. But I think I really went for my shots. I always tried to put the pressure on her, even on her serve. When she was serving big, I was still trying to go for it.

I mean, we know she's a big hitter, trying to move you as soon as she can and putting pressure on the return. So the plan was definitely to do not let her do that, which is not always easy, but that was the plan. Yeah, I think my game style can give her some issue, as well.

Q. Just speaking about your commitment to the game style that you are now playing, which is obviously pretty attacking, very offensive, can you talk through, over the course of your career, how challenging it has been for you to kind of figure out what type of player you want to be on the court? Because obviously we know you're so capable of a lot of different types of game styles effectively. How do you settle on this?

CAROLINE GARCIA: Well, it's definitely the one I'm doing better (smiling). Defense is working one day here and there, but not so much.

You know, I think when I arrive on tour, I was definitely playing like that. That's the way it was working for me. That's the way I learned to play tennis. It was working.

Then obviously playing that game style is not always working. You have to have a true belief in it. If not, mistakes are coming quite quickly. And it can still comes, you know, any time. You have to go 100% in it. Sometimes I did doubt about it, because it was not always working, and you try to forget about what people are saying, but it's always coming to your ears one way or another, and sometimes from people who are well known, things like that. So it's always affect you.

Then I doubted. And then I did it kind of half and half, and it was not working anymore. You try to do less unforced error, you go back, but then you do less winners because you are less inside the court.

So it's not a straight way. It's not like you know what you have to do. You know, times goes and you realize it's not working the other way, and you try to change, you try to get people around you who believe in this game style who made you move even more forward than you did in the past. And I did liked it a lot.

Q. Do you have a place for that (referring to the trophy)?

CAROLINE GARCIA: I will find a place (laughter).

Q. Following up on that, because Petra was in here and talking about you, and she said that she understands what you are trying to do because she does it as well, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. And you can beat everybody and you can lose first round playing this way. Is that difficult to accept that? You embrace this that you can crash out, playing where more risk?

CAROLINE GARCIA: I think I have to. I have to accept it that it may not work every time. It did not work every time.

But playing that game style, winning matches, winning title, if I still had doubts it prove me more than anything that the way it's working. Yeah, maybe there is day my timing will be off, I will be not as fast on my leg as I was this week, so it will be definitely more complicated, but I have to still try in this match.

I will lost matches obviously, but I will be able to already from it if I did it 100% if my attitude was good, and that's the only thing my team is pushing me to do, and that's the way I want to play.

Q. Off the court this week, how have you enjoyed your time in Cincinnati?

CAROLINE GARCIA: Not really, because I was finishing late every single time. So I did not enjoy anything unless eating with my coach at 11:00 p.m., rice and chicken. So not much (laughter).