Lone star: Caroline Garcia parts ways with coach ahead of WTA Finals

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Caroline Garcia is getting in the Texas spirit ahead of her second WTA Finals appearance—even though this time around, the Frenchwoman will be there as a lone ranger amid reports that she has suddenly parted ways with coach Bertrand Perret.

With just three days to go before the season-ending tournament kicks off at Fort Worth’s Dickies Arena, Garcia paid a visit to Justin Boots to shop around for some cowboy boots and a matching hat at the world’s largest Western store.

“Hello from Fort Worth, Texas!” Garcia wrote in a social media post, adding a few cowboy emojis. “Thank you @fortworthsports for the fun activity, gifts and helping pick my boots and hat!”

She wasn’t the only player to try out a Western look, with Maria Sakkari also trying on a custom-made Texas staple.

Garcia, who reached the semifinals in her 2017 debut, will be aiming to become the first French woman since Amelie Mauresmo in 2005 to lift the WTA Finals trophy in Fort Worth.

But she’ll have to do it without coach Perret at her side, after he took to social media on Thursday to announce the immediate end of the pair’s partnership. Perret, who guided her through a career renaissance in 2022 after hiring him in December, also confirmed the news to French media.

“I would have liked to go to the Masters, yes. But I'm not a man of false pretenses and when it's over, it's over. There was no point in prolonging it artificially,” Perret told L’Equipe, pointing to internal problems within the team.

“There have been problems. They ended up spoiling the atmosphere and I preferred to stop. I do this job for fun, and it wasn't as much fun anymore.”

Perret also stated that he has no immediate plans to coach another player. In the since-deleted social media post, he revealed he took the decision after the Guadalajara event.

While Garcia herself still hasn’t confirmed the news, her dad and former longtime coach Louis-Paul Garcia was spotted by eagle-eyed fans with the team in Guadalajara and at the US Open—where she reached her breakthrough first Grand Slam semifinal.

Garcia will be the No. 6 seed at the WTA Finals, which kicks off on Monday.