PORSCHE TENNIS GRAND PRIX

April 20, 2023

Caroline Garcia

Press Conference

C. GARCIA/T. Maria

7-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Great match tonight. Just talk us through your thoughts, your first match here at Stuttgart and what you did well.

CAROLINE GARCIA: Yeah, I'm very happy with the win obviously. It's a tricky first round. Quick adaptation from the hard court of the Billie Jean King Cup to here on clay.

Tatjana is a player of her kind. You know, she's unique, so it's pretty tough to get the rhythm. But very happy to be through and in two sets for once.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Just in terms of coming back from a break down in both of those sets, particularly at the end of the first set, what was the key to kind of elevating to breaking her as she served for it and then edging her in that tiebreak?

CAROLINE GARCIA: Yeah, for sure was very important, the comeback. I had some set points, couldn't convert it, and got broken quickly.

I know I could always come back. She was serving very well in the first set. But I didn't panic and tried to really stay focused on what I wanted to achieve during the points, being aggressive in my shots. I think it paid off.

The beginning of the second set, I have some breakpoint on my serve and I can't make it, doing some stupid mistakes on few volleys, smash, but I was closing every game and I tried to really play one point at a time and it was big comeback and I was 4-3 up. Then I got broken again (smiling).

Q. Got there in the end? That's all that matters.

CAROLINE GARCIA: Yes.

Q. You just mentioned Billie Jean King Cup and those two tough wins, particularly the first one. How important was it for you to get those performances, given kind of just the tough draws in Indian Wells and Miami against Sorana, just to kind of reset things and get yourself back in a positive mindset?

CAROLINE GARCIA: Yeah, it was some very important win, especially the first one for me. It was a good lesson, as well. They were playing some great tennis. Katie was playing some amazing tennis, very aggressive. You can see her ranking. She's like 150. So that prove you you don't have to look at that.

I was getting very quickly frustrating, couldn't play my game, was stressed obviously because I care to play for my country. But it was a good lesson that physically I was ready. Not after, but I was ready during the match (smiling).

It gave me a lot of confidence, and I was very proud of the effort to go all the way and to made it turn on my side.

Q. Having won a tournament in Germany already, does it help coming to another city in Germany, or is it...

CAROLINE GARCIA: It's very different conditions obviously, but it's always great tournament. I mean, I played Stuttgart a couple of times already. It's always a pleasure to come here, and the organization is perfect, like in Bad Homburg actually.

It's nice to play tournament and tennis in those conditions. The support is nice as well. I'm very happy to come back to Germany to play, for sure.

Q. You're back with your former coach a couple of weeks now. How come you split up last year, and how did it come that you're together again?

CAROLINE GARCIA: Yeah, I'm very happy to come back with training with Bertrand. We had a very good year last year.

Why we split up, why we come back, it's part of the past, but, you know, it's a good chemistry between the two of us, and he understand very well my aggressive game style. He's open-minded to make me train very inside the court or to make me return in that position.

It's paying off. Now we are just focused on the present and what can we do and what can we improve for the future.

Q. What do you make of Anastasia Potapova's...

CAROLINE GARCIA: Okay. So I play Potapova then.

Q. So you play Potapova next. What do you make of her rise? Have you noticed it at all? What makes her difficult as an opponent?

CAROLINE GARCIA: I don't know too much of her game style actually, but she's fighting on court like unbelievable. I feel she's playing three-set matches, crazy score every single time.

Today she had easier win. Didn't see the match, but the score is obviously easier. She's winning a lot of matches since the beginning of the year, moving well on court.

So it's obviously a good match. She's confident since the beginning of the year, so I will have to play a good match, be focused, be aggressive, and see what can I do.

Q. It will be, I believe, your fifth quarterfinal of the season next. I'm just kind of curious, for you maybe 12 months ago, making five quarterfinals in three months would seem like a really great, you know, result. Right now do you see that as positive? Do you see that as frustrating? How do you see it?

CAROLINE GARCIA: I don't know. I felt I'm struggling a lot since the beginning of the year. Obviously winning matches, losing some very tight ones. But I win, like, with struggle. Like everything is a struggle on court, off court.

It's a good lesson, but you always realize that you're never happy with what you have. Most of the time you always want to achieve more, always want to be better, to reach higher level.

Obviously last year, with the beginning of the year I had so far, I would be happy. Actually, during the match when I came back after the first set in Billie Jean King Cup, I went restroom, I came back with the captain, I was so frustrating, I was pissing off, like, Yeah, nothing is working, I'm always losing tight tiebreak.

He's like, All right. Calm down.

I'm like, Yeah, but I can't. I do only bad.

He's like, Okay, calm down. You're No. 5, 11 at the race. You play good tennis.

I was like, Yeah, but it's not working.

Sometime you just need someone from the outside to tell you few things and to put your feet back on the ground and say, Okay, you're not going to win every single match. You have opponent on the other side of the net. You have to take one day at a time.

I think, yeah, every week is a good lesson, and I think I got a good one.

Q. On the topic of Bertrand, when you guys talk about, given everything that you achieved last year, just within your game, what is the next step? What is the next evolution in the Caroline Garcia game with him back?

CAROLINE GARCIA: First is, yeah, get that confidence, that rhythm again. Since the beginning of the year I'm not as confident in my game style. I'm not really going 100% in my shot. I think it made me sometimes less powerful on court. That's first challenge.

And then, yeah, I think I can still return better, like better target and can defend a little bit better sometimes.

I mean, it's like asking Iga what can she improve? Like she's losing two matches in a year. I'm pretty sure she can find stuff, so I can definitely find stuff (smiling).