2022 WTA Finals champion Caroline Garcia slammed the two-week format used at the ongoing Madrid Open as the French tennis star thinks it is “too much” and completely unnecessary.
Starting this year, the Madrid Open switched to a two-week format and the same is set to follow at the Rome Open. When the format was introduced, one of the main goals was to give players more time to rest during a tournament.
But Garcia – who had a first-round bye as a seeded player in Madrid – didn’t like it all, making it clear that she wasn’t happy at all about being in the Spanish capital for a week and playing just two matches during that time.
Garcia aired her frustration with the former after Jasmine Paolini handed her a 6-3 6-2 loss in the Madrid third round.
“We’ve been here for a week and we’ve played two matches. It moves slowly, you don’t do much, you wait… This format is a bit frustrating. Some might resonate with it, but I can’t,” Garcia said.
Caroline Garcia © Getty Images Sport – Aurelien Meunier
Garcia lost to Paolini, then ripped the two-week Madrid format
Against Paolini, Garcia saved three break points in the fourth game but Paolini kept pressing and claimed the first break of the match two games later for a 4-2 lead. Up by a break, world No. 13 Paolini then held on to her serve for the remainder of the set to clinch the opener.
After losing the first set, Garcia also dropped her serve in the first game of the second set but managed to get back into the match after breaking back Paolini in the fourth game to tie the set to two games apiece.
Caroline Garcia © Getty Images Sport – Aurelien Meunier
But just after getting the break back, Garcia went on to surrender back-to-back breaks as Paolini won the next four games to complete her two-set win over the Frenchwoman.
Garcia will now turn her focus to Rome, where she was a quarterfinalist in 2018. Since Rome is starting on May 7th, Garcia will now have a full week to prepare for the Italian clay tournament.
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