Still no trophy in 2023 for Caroline Garcia. The French, world No. 5 and favorite of the tournament, lost Sunday in the final of the WTA 250 tournament in Monterrey against Croatian Donna Vekic, world No. 31. A defeat in 3 contested sets (6-4, 3-6, 7-5) and 2h29 of play. The 26-year-old Croatian won the 4th singles title of her career, after those of Kuala Lumpur in 2014, Nottingham in 2017 and Courmayeur in 2021.
For her part, the Frenchwoman suffered a second defeat in the final of the Monterrey tournament, after that of 2015. In four participations in Monterrey, Garcia has always reached at least the semi-finals.
This Mexican week, just before the meeting in Indian Wells (United States) from March 8 to 19, has however something to restore some confidence in Caroline Garcia, even if the opposition was not very strong with five top 50 players. With the exception of her loss in the final, she won all of her matches in straight sets and regained her efficiency on serve.
His start to the season had undermined his confidence, boosted by an impressive second half of the 2022 season with two titles (Cincinnati, Masters) and a semi-final at the US Open.
She had started the year 2023 with an elimination in the round of 16 of the Australian Open and remained on disappointing performances in Doha (defeat in the quarter-finals) and especially Dubai (elimination as soon as she entered the running). At the beginning of February, she had reached the final of “her” tournament in Lyon. There too she had failed during the last meeting of the week.