ROLAND GARROS

May 24, 2025

Caroline Garcia

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Caroline, obviously you made a very big announcement yesterday. This is your final Roland Garros and your last year on the tour, so could you please share your feelings about this.

CAROLINE GARCIA: Yeah. Yeah, I took the decision at the beginning of the year. I was not sure if I actually announce it or not, but obviously the closer the tournament was arriving, the more emotional I was getting, so I thought it was a good moment.

I'm enjoying every single minute of it. Yeah, I'm very in peace with my decision.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. I actually want to ask you about a different post, the one a couple of weeks ago about playing through pain. What prompted you to write that, what sort of reaction you have heard from other players about those thoughts you shared, and finally, what it might be a connection between that post and the news yesterday?

CAROLINE GARCIA: My decision was made already. It was not because of the last couple of months' new pain, let's say. It's not super related.

After, I felt it was important sometimes to share about what kind of pain and what you have to endure when you're a pro athlete. Obviously you understand that the most important goal of sport is to push your limit, to go further and further, but there is sometimes body limit and also what are you able to live with on the moment during your career, and some days it's easier than other to deal with pain, and sometimes it's more complicated.

Also, what about the pain that you may feel after your career or to live a normal life and things like that. I think when you're injured also as an athlete, there is, like, the kind of injury and pain that doesn't allow you to do your sport but you can live a normal life. For example, when I had my shoulder, you know, I could live a normal life, I could go running, to the gym, and everything.

But with back pain, it's a struggle and you're in pain every single day, every single minute of your day, and you're, like, okay, maybe it's not completely worth it at the moment.

So I think it was important to share, and people, I don't think they always realize it.

Q. And in terms of hearing from other players?

CAROLINE GARCIA: I saw a couple of answers on social media about the post. As I was not in tournament, we didn't see face to face, but...

Q. Could I just ask you to explain a little bit the pressures, whether it's from inside or outside that go into that decision of, gee, I really need to play, even though I'm not so sure I want to?

CAROLINE GARCIA: Sorry, pain or last tournaments?

Q. Sorry, the idea of playing through pain, when maybe you shouldn't or you don't necessarily want to, but you feel, for whatever reason, that you need to, or athletes have that sense that they need to get out there and play.

CAROLINE GARCIA: I can't really talk about the other athletes, other tennis players. I can talk about my experience. Sometimes it's true that I had a hard time trusting myself, and sometimes obviously it was hard to, like, am I really in big pain or maybe just my mental stress sending me message that I'm in pain and I cannot play just because maybe I have some fears.

For me it was always like, okay, unless I cannot walk to the court, maybe I can play and we never know what can happen out there. Maybe the other one is in worse condition than I am. Obviously most of the time it will not happen, but maybe some day you will have a win that you are not expecting, so you keep it in your mind, and you're, like, oh, maybe it can happen again.

Then obviously, like, the ranking system is like if you don't play, you will drop in the ranking, so you cannot give it a try? I probably did some mistake in my past of, okay, I'm not fit enough to play, maybe a should skip a month of tournament and really recover, rest, rehab, and come back when I'm 100%. I probably played too many tournaments when I was not, like, 90, 100%.

But, yeah, sometimes you feel like the responsibility of your team also, and yeah, if I can still walk, maybe I can play tennis.

Q. I have a question related to that, because when you talk about pain and playing through pain, you probably also talk about taking painkillers. Have you had the feeling that maybe you shouldn't have done that or was it too much or too little or do you take painkillers at all or maybe not at all? I remember Rafael Nadal, for example, playing with a very injured foot, and he obviously...

CAROLINE GARCIA: Yeah, I mean, that's the thing about sport, you know. You are supposed to push your limit and get stronger, faster, be able to last longer on court. You have to find your own limit, and sometimes it's true that anti-inflammatory painkiller or things like that can help you to go a little bit farther and make those pains a bit more silent than they really are.

After, it's like everyone with their conscience, and because taking them you can get your injury worse, so you have to see the whole picture and see the time of now and also the longer term. So it's their own decision.

Obviously, like I said, I think probably sometimes I played tournaments I should not have played because I was in too much pain, and in the longer term also mentally was too tough to deal with it. It's draining to play with pain. It's hard to enjoy those moments.

So, yeah, maybe sometimes I didn't trust myself enough.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. You made your announcement yesterday. There was a lot of emotion with the French players. What was the feedback you got since you made the announcements from FFT and French tennis?

CAROLINE GARCIA: It was quite good. I think I felt a lot of love and respect for my career, what I actually accomplished.

They saw that I was at peace with my decision, that I lived it well. And the majority was satisfied and was happy to see me at peace. So it was a lot of positive things.

Q. I have a question on the news. You were enrolled at Harvard University? Maybe you saw the announcement yesterday from President Donald Trump who wants to withdraw...

CAROLINE GARCIA: No, I didn't see it.

Q. Donald Trump wants to prohibit Harvard University from welcoming foreign students.

CAROLINE GARCIA: I would not like to speak on that subject, because I don't know the subject. Yesterday there were other news on the table, so I don't want to speak about it.

Q. It's your last French Open edition. There were ups and downs. It's a complicated relationship. What does it feel to think it's the last one? Is it still special? Because you don't have the same relationship with this tournament as other players would.

CAROLINE GARCIA: It's strange, but I knew that it would be the last one inside of me and so I prepped for it. I came to watch this tournament when I was a young girl. When I would go to school, you know, at 4:00 after school I would watch it on TV. It's very special moments. I lived through very difficult moments, and that has forged me as a character, as a tennis player.

When I won in doubles with Kristina twice, also in singles, I had wonderful moments. It is a special moment, and I hope that this year will be no exception.

Q. Maybe you have known it for some time, but when you woke up this morning, do you feel different, do you feel happier, freer?

CAROLINE GARCIA: Yesterday when I announced it, I don't know if I was -- I'm looking forward to it, but it's in the good sense of the term, because I'm at peace with my decision. I was happy to share the decision, and, to be honest, not to hide it anymore.

So all is well, you know. I'm going through my normal life, and if I should shed some tears, I know I can do it. There is nothing special about it.

Q. You said to the team that you had to have an infusion of corticoid steroids. Does it mean that you had to have an authorization, a prior consent before going to the Grand Slam? Because you need to have some time off.

CAROLINE GARCIA: You never know if it works. They say that normally it should be effective, but before the theory and the reality, it's another kettle of fish. The body and the injuries and the medical part, you never have certainties.

So we stopped for some time, and then we practiced again with all the precautions I could take. I tried to play as smoothly as possible, and to go step by step before the beginning of the competition.

Q. You said that you're at peace with your decision. What does it mean, "peace," for you? Alize actually waited one year before coming back. So is it really the end?

CAROLINE GARCIA: I can't talk about Alize. I don't know about her. This is a very personal question.

Last year when I had some down time, I didn't know if I would come back or not, and when I did, when I stopped, I really needed it from an emotional point of view, because I started hating tennis and everything around it.

But I wanted to have some time off to think, to ponder about what I really felt about tennis. After some time, I understood that I really loved tennis and everything that it brought to me in my life, and I wanted to have another season. But then physically it didn't come up as I wanted, but I really wanted to play my way with the balance that, with the personal life and sports life, balance that I wanted to strike.

You know, I love tennis. I will always love tennis. And then with everything that you need to do to be a top-level athlete like trips, physio, recovery, off-court, on-court sessions, I don't have the strength anymore to do everything. I can't do it anymore.

It happened slowly by surely, but I'm more and more proud about what I have achieved on court, and so all is well for me.

Q. I would like to follow up on the other question. After the announcement, did you feel lighter? In your head is one thing, but what about on court for the next session? Did you feel that you played more loose? For instance, Tsonga, for instance, did a wonderful match because it was his last match, and he really played loose. Are you in this situation?

CAROLINE GARCIA: Mentally, I would say yes. Physically, you know, it's another story. I try to manage my efforts. I try to do my best. I'm not playing as loose as I would like to.

When I sparred with Diane this morning on the ancillary courts, it was wonderful. I felt well with the public. It went well. I had fun with Diane. We had a good practice session, so I felt good, even though I haven't had enough match play or as much as I would have liked, but I have done a lot of tennis.

So, you know, I want to count on my experience and trusting my tennis. As for my expectations, well, we'll try to manage that.

Q. You aren't waiting for a tribute. Have you changed your mind since then?

CAROLINE GARCIA: No. When I said to Amelie that it would be my last French Open, my last season, I said, if you think that I deserve a tribute, maybe you should wait for next year. That's what I said.

Q. Maybe I missed the news. Have you made your season schedule? What are you going to play after the French Open?

CAROLINE GARCIA: I'm going to go to Queen's, because it's the first year that the girls would go, so it's a motivation for me. Then I would like to go to Wimbledon. Depends on my ranking, of course, because I went down in my ranking. Depends if I have a wildcard or not. And then US Open.