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WUHAN OPEN

September 29, 2017

Caroline Garcia

Wuhan, Hubei, China

C. GARCIA/M. Sakkari

6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. A clinical performance out there, it looked like. What did you make of that match?
CAROLINE GARCIA: I thought it was not as clinical as it could be, but it was definitely a good match. I have been solid in the important point. I play very well when it was 30-All or deuce. When I had breakpoint, I did it almost every single time. So I played very well the key moments and key points. That's make a difference.

But I think in my game sometimes I was a little bit waiting for her to make the mistake. I can be more active, and that's what I will need to do for tomorrow.

But sometimes you have to be able to go through when you are not playing your best tennis. I stay calm in every moment, and it was important.

Q. This was your fifth semifinal of the season. What do you think was the difference today of getting over the line?
CAROLINE GARCIA: I don't know. I can't say it's one thing. I think it's a couple of things what makes the difference.

I was really focused on the game, on my performance, how I could improve. I was not thinking about it was a semifinal or about everything around. And sometimes when I got a little bit stress or feel the tension, I was, like, that's really the moment I want to live and the moment I want to play on court, so I went for it. I enjoyed every minute.

Q. What does it mean to you and how does it feel to make the biggest final of your career?
CAROLINE GARCIA: It's great (smiling). I mean, you can't say anything. It's great to be in final of a P5 for the first time. But like I say, I don't want to think about it for now. I have a very important match tomorrow, and that's all I'm focused on.

It's definitely a difficult tournament because you have to play every single day and you have no rest. At the beginning of the week was difficult condition. Now it got cooler and we have a roof, so we are safe.

But it's really nice to be able to play well in the big tournaments. That was one of the goal of this year. So it's important, but I want to keep going.

Q. Ashleigh Barty, what do you know about her?
CAROLINE GARCIA: I haven't seen her play a lot recently. She have great serve. Her technique on her serve makes it very difficult to read. I know I have to be aggressive and I will have to play my best match of the week, for sure. She's using a lot of slice on backhand.

She beat some amazing players through the week. I mean, I don't know how many top 10. Everything was, like, it's very impressive. She played doubles also, but not today. It was a long week for her.

I know it will be very interesting match. That's why I train hard. That's the match I want to play.

Q. You said you were feeling very calm today. How calm do you feel on court compared with in the past?
CAROLINE GARCIA: It was little bit less calm than the previous one. It was more tension and more emotion in my head. It was a little bit more complicated to control. But I think is normal for everyone.

I just try to, yeah, think about what is working for me, just try to focus and improve on everything. It takes all the experience I could when I was out there on court. It really help me to just play simple, and that's it.

But I know I'm going to feel sometimes stress, tension and everything. I just have to admit and play with it.

Q. Do you feel like this season has led you steadily towards tomorrow, just the improvements over time, that's got you to get the experience, everything coming together this week?
CAROLINE GARCIA: Yeah, I mean, I try to learn from everything, from the bad thing and the good thing, from the good run in French Open and Wimbledon. Also in US Open was a little bit more disappointing, but I tried to learn a lot from these performances.

So last two weeks it's going in the good way. I mean, when I arrived in Wuhan, I was not thinking about right now. But I'm just happy to be here and I just want to keep improving. I know it's still a long way. I just want to be focused on the present, enjoy it. Every single week of this season was a step forward, and I want to keep going.

Q. You talked about learning from defeat. How much of your learning is speaking to your father, to people around you, compared with sitting in your room thinking about how you can get better?
CAROLINE GARCIA: I mean, I definitely speak a lot with my father. He knows me better than I know myself. When I was down this season, he really helped me to go through it. It's an amazing adventure we are living all together with that, and with mom.

Sometimes it's, like, a key moment, like when you're down, some people stop to believe in yourself. That's the main person still there. We are doing an amazing job since I'm maybe 12, 14 years. It's great to see even in the bad moments there is such nice people who stay close to me and believe in myself and push mere even when it was hard and I was not believing in me any more, or not as much.

I mean, sometimes he's hard with me, for sure. It's not always nice to speak with him because he tell me the truth even when it hurts. But I know it's for my best, so I just try to shut my mouth and accept it (smiling).

Q. Do you feel like people wrote you off at some point?
CAROLINE GARCIA: Uhm, I can't say. Maybe some did. But, I mean, when you are 17 and people tell you you're going to be No. 1 in the future, and you still, like, top 50 when you're 22 or something, you're like, Okay, it's not really going a good way.

But sometimes people don't understand your choice, but you have to make it. You know what you are doing these kind of choice. Sometimes is difficult choices, but we did it. We know it was good for me. After you never know if it's going to pay off right away, but we did it. Sometime is difficult to heard some bad comment about your choice or about your game because it is not going the good way.

I know my parents still believing in me anyway. I had some people in my team, we are very close since long time and a lot of years. That is the more important for me. Some people I don't know doesn't believe in me, I don't care any more.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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