If she had to choose an instrument to play, Caroline Garcia would pick the guitar. An obvious choice for a tennis player, one might say, given the use of strings.
Acoustic might best describe Garcia’s low-key personality while her tennis is nothing but electric and full of attacking intent.
She is producing her finest results aged 29 although a casual glance at her ranking could mask the rollercoaster nature of her tennis journey.
Garcia soared to No. 4 in September 2018 and currently sits back at that ranking at AO 2023.
But rather than a consistent spell inside the top 10, Garcia endured several difficult campaigns by her lofty standards. She dropped to 79th last May shortly after foot surgery, and has dealt with bulimia.
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Her resurgence on court truly began in June after saving a match point in the Bad Homburg semifinals against compatriot Alize Cornet before beating Grand Slam winner Bianca Andreescu for the grass-court title.
Her passion for tennis has remained and Garcia now takes to the court clear in her tactics while enjoying the sport more than ever.
Those proactive tactics were evidenced en route to her three other titles in 2022 — including the WTA Finals despite going separate ways with her coach on the eve of the year-end showpiece — and semifinal showing at the US Open.
Garcia was the lone player to defeat current No.1 Iga Swiatek on clay, too.
The Fly with Caro hashtag — referring to her post-match celebration — took off.
“The way I enjoyed playing was to be very aggressive, moving forward, doing volley winners,” Garcia told ausopen.com.
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She was a 6-3 6-0 winner over qualifier Katherine Sebov in the first round on Tuesday.
“That's the way I want to play.
“I want to go for it, and I want to take charge of what I believe in. Try to. I'm not waiting for things to happen,” added the two-time doubles Grand Slam champion.
Garcia led the tour in aces and placed second in service games won. The serve is indeed a huge facet of her game.
“I will try to really focus on my serve,” said Garcia. “First serve, and first shot after the serve. That’s what is always the most important goal in my game. It puts the pressure on the opponent.”
And what mindset does Garcia adopt if her serve happens to be broken?
Focus on her ensuing return game to try to earn the break quickly back. “Prove to her that nothing happened,” she said.
Garcia holidayed solo in Bali in the off-season, telling the WTA she tried yoga and went on a few tours.
It was back to tournament action at the inaugural United Cup mixed event this month, where Garcia went undefeated prior to a quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Belinda Bencic at the Adelaide International.
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After defeating Sebov to return to winning ways, Garcia meets another Canadian, Leylah Fernandez, in the second round of AO 2023 on Thursday.
It comes 12 years after the former junior No.5 made her Grand Slam debut at Melbourne Park.
With Fernandez the 2021 US Open finalist, the clash — a first head-to-head between the players — promises much.
“It’s a great second round,” said Garcia. “She did great in Slams in the past, very talented lefty.
It's a good challenge. I will have to play my best tennis for sure.”
She is playing her best tennis in matches more than ever.