Garcia wins battle of the Carolines
SINGAPORE: A tenacious Caroline Garcia kept her WTA Finals campaign alive with a thrilling three-set comeback victory over in-form World No 6 Caroline Wozniacki on Friday.
The World No 8 was just two points from elimination in the 10th game of the third set but dug deep and claimed a break.
She then won the next two games to win 0-6, 6-3, 7-5 in two hours and 19 minutes at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Caroline Garcia finished top of Red Group after Elina Svitolina beat top seed Simona Halep.
“She was playing amazing in the first set, I was a little down,” Caroline Garcia said after the match.
“Finally I found my rhythm but like the previous match it was up and down but I finished well.”
Caroline seemed headed for a third straight crushing victory after dominating in the early stages through controlled aggression off the baseline, precise counter-punching and clutch serving.
The 27-year-old had just one unforced error in an almost flawless first set lasting just 22 minutes.
But the match took an unexpected turn early in the second set when the Dane had a time violation and argued with the umpire during the third game.
Caroline Garcia capitalised and won four straight games en route to levelling the match before outlasting Caroline Wozniacki in a tense third set.
It was the Frenchwoman’s first victory from three attempts against Caroline in the pair’s first clash since 2015.
Elina beat Simona in straight sets and sent the World No 1 crashing out.
Elina, the World No 4, was already eliminated after losing her first two matches but she took Simona down with her as she won 6-3, 6-4 in 71 minutes.