Caroline Garcia joined soon-to-be-number-one Simona Halep in the final of the China Open by beating Petra Kvitova 6-3 7-5 in a semifinal featuring two players sporting the same new Nike’s winter kit, the hydrogen blue Premier Slam Tank and the thunder blue Power Spin Skirt.
The unseeded Garcia quickly enjoyed a 4-0 lead in the first set, with both of those breaks coming when Kvitova double-faulted on a break point! The Czech did manage to break back in the fifth game, but her improvement arrived late, as Garcia rolled to 6-3 in the set in which both players recorded more unforced errors than winners. Kvitova entered the match as the China Open ace leader with 23 aces, but in the first set of the semifinal she hit none, as opposed to five double faults, which only increased in the second set.
During the most part of the second set, it was Garcia who was catching up with Kvitova, from from 0-2 to 2-2 and then as she followed Kvitova’s serve holds. However, in the eleventh game Garcia made a crucial leap by breaking Kvitova once more, again as Kvitova double-faulted on break point (!), and soon after the victory was the Frenchwoman’s.
Caro really played well in China the past two weeks. A result of her hard work and determination.