AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 14, 2023

Caroline Garcia

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome back to the Australian Open. You had good matches in Perth and Adelaide. How are you feeling about your game?

CAROLINE GARCIA: Yeah, the season has just started. It was nice to get a couple of matches in Perth and Adelaide. Obviously I would have wanted to go farther in Adelaide. But it's still good match.

I can work from there and see what I can improve.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Your mentality coming in, is it better to see this as a new season or as a continuation of last season, considering how you were playing at the end?

CAROLINE GARCIA: Well, I think it's a new season, you know. It's obviously a new season, and I can keep all the positive of what happen last year, all the improvement I made. Yeah, the mentality, the mindset, and then start to work on from that to where can I go, what can I reach.

Yeah, get experience I got from two years back, from that point, that place, the ranking and everything, to manage everything better and to keep improving.

Q. Can you at all remember what was going through your mind or how you were feeling 12 months ago here in Melbourne?

CAROLINE GARCIA: I was not in that room, that's for sure (smiling).

Yeah, I mean, obviously it was really a start of a new season and probably a new step in my career last year, trying to really, like, do some improvements and really be clear about what I wanted to do, what we wanted to do with the team.

Made it to maybe the top 30, to be seeded at the Australian Open, that was the main goal, on top of being healthy again. Didn't really start the way we wanted in Australian Open. It was some good days, then some bad days. It was not very consistent.

Yeah, for sure I was not expecting to be in that position 12 months later.

Q. Then now 12 months on, being here, how do you feel? How confident are you feeling to start the season? What are the goals? How different is it now, given what you did last year?

CAROLINE GARCIA: From 12 months ago or just last couple...

Q. 12 months ago, how different of a player and as a person?

CAROLINE GARCIA: I think I don't start the tournament with the same mindset, obviously with the same goals, but I have to start the tournament with the first-round win. That's the most important focus right now, is to prepare for the first match coming up and see what I can do about it, how I can improve to go as far as I can.

Obviously one of the goal of this year or next year or couple of years coming is to try to go all the way and win a slam. We'll see if I'm capable of doing it, but it's a great challenge I want to face.

I don't want to know the draw. I don't know my draw. Maybe first round, but not... Maybe first round. I needed to ask, but I forget (laughter).

Q. You saw Ash today.

CAROLINE GARCIA: Yeah, I did.

Q. What was it like reuniting with her? You get a shout-out in her book. How is she feeling?

CAROLINE GARCIA: Obviously, like, couple weeks ago when I arrive in Australia, I texted her. I didn't know if she was going to be at the Australian Open and everything. I was like, Yeah, keep five minutes for me, I want just to say hi and everything.

She said, Yeah, we'll be around.

This morning when we get out of the car, the credential, I just went to the credential, then she's coming to me. She was just here and I didn't even see her. Yeah, it was very good surprise.

It's been a year we didn't see her, kind of, so it's good to see her. She looks very happy. Made me happy for her.

Q. You got a lot of awards in France at the end of the year. What did that mean to you? Do you think you deserved the awards?

CAROLINE GARCIA: I don't think it's my position to say if I deserve it or not (smiling).

What I like is just let my results speak for me, and what I do on court is the most important. It's always nice and a good gesture to get some rewards, some people to appreciate what they have been seeing on court, seeing you as a player, as an athlete, as a person.

Yeah, it's always some positive energy to take. I just want to let my tennis speak for me.

Q. What is the challenge for you over the years of playing at Melbourne Park? What is the toughest part of this tournament for you?

CAROLINE GARCIA: I think what is tough is we don't have a lot of rhythm. The slam is coming very fast after the off-season, so you didn't play. You can play tournaments, but if you go all the way, of course, you have a lot of matches. So far I didn't get a lot of rhythm on court, not as many wins as I wanted to give me all the confidence I need.

But it's a great challenge to try to focus and prepare the tournament not feeling the best of the best. But you can always improve from one day to another, and improve through the tournament, as well.

Q. You gave an interview to L'Équipe, talking about some of the struggles you had last year, things like that. Were you surprised at all by how resonant...

CAROLINE GARCIA: Yeah. I think if I did know it was going that much, maybe I would not have said it.

After when I saw how much it went, like, all around the tennis world, I was feeling a little bit uncomfortable with it. I don't regret saying it. It's what happened. I'm not ashamed about it. After I was uncomfortable with it (smiling).

Yeah, I think it's happening to a lot of athletes and a lot of also regular person because we are still human and we go through a lot of emotion. You have to travel a lot. Even when you have a regular job or regular life, it's happening to you. It's the same for us as athletes. It's important if you want to talk about it.

Obviously there is a lot of people talking about things that happening to themself, being uncomfortable, being sad. Yes, that's what happen to me as well the last couple of years.