Fifth seed Garcia squeezes through at Wimbledon
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Caroline Garcia overcame Leylah Fernandez in three sets to reach the Wimbledon third round.
LONDON (Reuters) - It took a first-to-10-point shootout but French fifth seed Caroline Garcia finally overcame Leylah Fernandez in three sets to reach the Wimbledon third round in early evening sunshine on Thursday.
Having dropped the opening set 6-3, in which Fernandez slammed 10 clean winners, the Frenchwoman – her right racket arm and shoulder strapped heavily – levelled with a 6-4 second set before doing just enough to edge the championship tiebreak 10-6 in a decider during which neither was able to break serve.
"I could be crying probably under the shower right now. That means how close it was," Garcia told reporters.
"It was a big battle obviously... We had a couple of tough matches already this year. Today was kind of the same, even closer. (I'm) Super happy with the win. Yeah, Leylah is a tough opponent, for sure."
Canadian Fernandez, displaying glimpses of the form which took her to that surreal 2021 U.S. Open final which she lost to Britain’s Emma Raducanu, played with poise and power from the back of the court, and caused Garcia problems throughout.
But in the end it was, by the narrowest of margins, Garcia who skipped across the court pumping her fist and beaming a huge smile in victory.
She will next face Czech Marie Bouzkova who sent Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit into retirement from professional tennis with a 6-1 6-2 victory and, if not 100% comfortable on grass, she is at least happy to be coming to terms with life on the tricky grass surface.
"I would not say I found my rhythm. I mean, I just won 7-6 in the third ... but obviously I play (an) aggressive game, so it may look like grasscourts should suit more that kind of player.
"I try to use my rhythm, my timing. And with time ... experience, I find I just (feel) a little bit better."
