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topicnews · September 27, 2024

Caroline Garcia ended the season after Guadalajara, citing psychological problems

Caroline Garcia ended the season after Guadalajara, citing psychological problems

Caroline Garcia announces the end of her season after the Guadalajara Open Akron, citing physical and psychological problems. The 30-year-old Frenchwoman shared an emotional message on social media, reflecting on her difficult season that saw her fall from a career-high world No. 4 to a place outside the top 40.

Garcia achieved her best result of the season this week by reaching the semifinals of a WTA 500 tournament, making it the final four of a tournament for only the second time this year. However, she only needed a win against Ena Shibahara to do so, as she advanced via a walkover in the quarterfinals after Marie Bouzkova retired before the match.

“For too long I allowed myself to be taken over by the tennis club” – Caroline Garcia

This year she reached the semi-finals for the first time, the last time being at the WTA 250 Ruan Open. The last time she won consecutive matches was in Ruan in April.

“Guadalajara marked the end of my 2024 season. It was not an easy decision because in tennis, every week off feels like I’m falling behind, giving up ranking points and missing opportunities,” Garcia wrote on social media. “But I know this is the right decision to come back in 2025 and fight for these big moments again.”

“I’m exhausted from the fears, the panic attacks, the tears before playing. I’m tired of missing out on family moments and never having a place I can truly call home. “I’m tired of living in a world where my worth is measured by last week’s results, my ranking, or my unforced errors,” she shares.

Caroline Garcia at the 2022 WTA Finals.

“I let tennis consume me for too long and experienced the emotional highs and lows of every result. But I am more than that. I am a woman with values, talents, passions, weaknesses and strengths. “I’m not perfect, but I’m doing my best,” she added.

“I wish it were easy to change, grow and adopt a new mindset. “I wish I could just go out there, play freely, smile and hit my best shots when it matters,” the 30-year-old admitted. “But as my friend Alize Cornet says, real change takes time. You can’t undo years of conditioning overnight.”
The 2022 WTA Finals winner announced that she will return to the tour in the 2025 season and will take time off to recover and prepare in time for the Australian tournaments. Garcia’s next challenge on the tennis court will be in January: “I’ll decide before I take a break. I’ll take a few weeks off to recover and then start preparing for 2025 – to get myself physically, mentally and tactically prepared.

Guadalajara marked the end of my 2024 season. It was not an easy decision, because in tennis every week off feels like a setback – the loss of ranking points and the “missing” of opportunities. But I know this is the right call to come back stronger in 2025 and fight for these big moments…

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