If a summer that began with a first title in three years suggested Carolina Garcia was on her way back, events in Warsaw this week have confirmed it.
Garcia has a tendency to win her titles in consecutive months, and with her 6-4, 6-1 victory over Ana Bogdan of Romania in the final of the Poland Open she achieved another eye-catching double, one to rank alongside her rapid-fire wins in Strasbourg-Mallorca in 2016 and Wuhan-Beijing the following year.
The symmetry between then and now is striking. When Garcia completed the last of those twin triumphs, defeating incoming world No 1 Simona Halep to win the China Open, it lifted her into the top 10 for the first time. She would maintain that status for a year, reaching a career-high ranking of fourth in September 2018 before her form and belief waned so alarmingly that she went into this year’s French Open ranked 79th, her lowest position in eight years.
Throughout these ups and downs, however, Garcia’s talent and natural athleticism have remained undeniable, and on her day the 28-year-old remains capable of troubling anyone in the world. She demonstrated as much this week, stunning Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals to end the world No 1’s run of 18 straight victories on clay in a match that – like her win over Halep five years ago – bore all the hallmarks of a woman once again on the rise. Just as importantly, Garcia backed up that win, dismissing Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the semi-finals for the loss of just three games, before making her superior experience tell against Bogdan.
“I’m a champion again in the WTA Tour, and it’s something always very special that you cherish a lot,” said Garcia. “I’m definitely very proud of my work and the team effort.”
A player for all occasions with her big serve, weighty forehand and dexterity at the net, Garcia’s ninth title completes a perfect set of three tournament victories on the three different surfaces of clay, grass and hard courts, and lifts her 13 places in the rankings to No 32. She has now won 18 of her last 21 matches and, if she can carry her renascent form into next month’s US Open, she should have every possibility of advancing beyond the third round at Flushing Meadows for the first time.
“There’s a few tournaments on hard before that,” said Garcia. “It’s been a while since I played on a hard court, but I will try to recover and get all the confidence and the positive energy I have from the last couple of weeks, and make the best out of it on US soil. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Bogdan acquitted herself well in her first WTA final, recovering brilliantly from the loss of the opening three games as she slowly came to terms with Garcia’s relentless aggression and firepower. But having drawn level on serve with a timely break as the Frenchwoman served for the opener at 5-3, Bogdan was unable to fend off a renewed assault from Garcia, whose depth and weight of shot immediately earned her a third break.
From there, Garcia raised her game to run away with the second set. A searing forehand winner secured a break in the fourth game, and as she began to serve with an authority and consistency that, in the face of some fearsome returning from Bogdan, had eluded her early on, the momentum shifted decisively in her favour.
The Romanian can nonetheless draw huge encouragement from a week that, at the age of 29, she must have feared might never come.
“It’s been a great week for me, my first WTA final, I’ve really enjoyed the whole week,” said Bogdan. “I think for me it’s the beginning of a new journey, and I really want to take all the positives from this week and move on with good energy.
“I want to go back home and prepare well for the for the US swing and take whatever was good here, take it with me together with the hard work, mentally and physically. I have to be better, to improve.”