Caroline Garcia adds Cincinnati semifinal to sizzling summer after eliminating Jessica Pegula

MATCH POINT: Garcia finishes off Pegula

To determine what inspires a tennis player is much more of an art form than a science. In early June, after losing in the second round of Roland Garros, Caroline Garcia was ranked 75 in the world. But there’d also been a peak moment for Garcia at her homeland major. She’d reunited with Kristina Mladenovic, the two going on to take the doubles title there for the second time. Said Garcia that day in Paris, “In tennis you have to take everything you can, a title in WTA, it's something very big. In Slams, it's even bigger. You never know when you are going to come back, and you really have to enjoy it and take all the positive you can.”

Since then, Garcia has done that magnificently. Arriving in Cincinnati this week to play the Western & Southern Open, Garcia had surged up the ranks to 35. In Cincinnati, she’s fought her way through the qualifying and has now reached the semis, a run highlighted by wins over fourth-seeded Maria Sakkari and, Friday evening, a 6-1, 7-5 victory over seventh-seeded Jessica Pegula.

“I had to play my best and try to be as aggressive as I can, play early,” said Garcia. “Some rallies were very, very fast, got to be ready, but I think I did very well. Served definitely up to get free points. It's always very nice to get free points. It put me in confident to put more pressure on the return game, and it paid off at the end.”

Over the course of this resurgence, Garcia has won two WTA tournaments, the most recent happening earlier this month in Warsaw. That effort included a quarterfinal upset of world No. 1, Iga Swiatek, by the most unusual score of 6-1, 1-6, 6-4. All these results surely make Garcia an intriguing contender come US Open time.

Though Pegula led this rivalry 2-1, Garcia had won their most recent match, a 6-4, 7-6 (3) victory earlier this year in Sydney. Tonight in Cincinnati, if it was clear from the outset that Pegula, with her left thigh taped, lacked her trademark movement and precision, it was also clear that Garcia had made a strong commitment to the game plan that’s worked for her all summer: seize the real estate of the court. Pegula’s second serve was opening number one, but so also were a great many mid-point rally balls. Coming into this match, Garcia had led the Hologic WTA Tour in both aces (263) and forehand winners (601). Sharp serves and forehands were only part of what Garcia brought to this match. Power, movement, accuracy and agility—Garcia executed exquisitely, everything from her forehand to backhand, serves and volleys applying significant pressure.

As the second set got underway, Pegula’s best hope was to stick around long enough for things to stay close and Garcia’s serves and nerves to betray her. The moment of potential pendulum swing came with Pegula serving at 5-5, 15-all. But on the next two points, Garcia laced sharp deep returns, broke serve at 15 and closed it out in the next game on her first match point. Said Garcia, “I serve well in the last couple of months, especially on grass. There was some good service game. We worked a lot on it, because we know it's part of the game.”

Garcia’s semifinal opponent will be Aryna Sabalenka. As was the case for Garcia versus Pegula prior to today, these two have played one another three times. “Yeah, we played before,” said Garcia, “but quite long time ago now. Yeah, she's a very aggressive player. We have kind of the same weapon in our game.” All of those matches came in 2018. Sabalenka won two, but Garcia took the most recent. In tennis terms, though, that is all ancient history. As we’ve seen this summer, one major doubles run might well have been all the spark Garcia needed to create contemporary history.