"All the negative emotion doesn’t affect me" - Caroline Garcia on the positive mindset that helped her win the 2022 WTA Finals
Caroline Garcia won the biggest title of her career after she defeated seventh seed Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets, 7-6(4), 6-4, to win the WTA Finals at Fort Worth, Texas.
The new World No. 4 was at her attacking best on the day and proved too good for the big-hitting Belarusian.
During her presser, Garcia spoke about her positive mindset, crediting it for winning the crucial first-set tie-break and the start she made in the second set.
“Just very happy about the mindset, to be really calm at every moment. All the negative emotion doesn’t affect me, and that was really a big part of taking the few opportunities I had in the tiebreaker, and the first game I broke her in the second,” said Garcia.
CARO CONQUERS FORT WORTH 🙌
@CaroGarcia wins the biggest title of her career 🏆
#WTAFinals https://t.co/HZxl4CHHv2
“Today one of the most important things was to stay calm and jump on every opportunity" - Caroline Garcia
Caroline Garcia elaborated further on her mental attitude in the final against Sabalenka.
The French player spoke about the need to get through difficult moments in a match and pounce on opportunities when they are presented.
“Sometimes you are emotional or things don’t go your way,” Garcia said. “I mean, sometimes there is a big fight, so you have to find your way through it. Some points, where you cannot do anything. You just try to put in the return and to run as fast as you can to the other side."
"And that was one of the biggest points I improved. Today one of the most important things was to stay calm and jump on every opportunity,” she added.
Sabalenka reflected on the match, ruing dropping her level at the end of the first set and the start of the second. She also said the season had been a "challenging" one before thanking everyone for their support.
“I just dropped my level for a little bit. On the tiebreak and the first game of the second set. That’s it. I did my best, [but] she played unbelievable tennis,” Sabalenka said in her press conference.
"I’m not going to say thank you to my team because it’s so many double faults, you guys are such a bad team -- no, no, no, I’m joking. It’s been a challenging year for us. Thank you so much for your support," she added.