Garcia Wins WTA Finals
Garcia is the second Frenchman to win the WTA Finals, after Amelie Mauresmo in 2005. She won all four finals this year and eight of nine since 2016. Garcia has the best final win percentage in WTA history, 11 times. after 14 games on all three surfaces.
Garcia defeated Sabalenka while the Belarusian tennis player was in high form. Sabalenka just shocked the world number one Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals on November 7. The final was even, but Sabalenka lost the rhythm at the crucial moment at the end of the first set and at the beginning of the second set. She made a double mistake when facing a set-point in the first set, then lost the first serve game of the second set. Two mistakes prevented the world number five player from returning, when Garcia maintained a high level of performance the whole match.
"I had a great tournament and probably only made two mistakes against Garcia. I couldn't turn the situation around when Garcia played unbelievable," Sabalenka said in a press conference after the WTA Finals.
Garcia won the Return of the Year award climbing to number four in the world this week. She was in the top 10 in 2017 at the age of 24 but then spent four years struggling with injuries, sometimes falling to number 60 in the world. Garcia closed the 2022 season perfectly with the prestigious WTA Finals title, 1,375 bonus points and a check for $1.57 million.
"Calm is probably the key to getting through my career," Garcia said as he held the WTA Finals title at Fort Worth, Texas. "I find ways to control negative emotions. You always have to deal with big waves in life and the best way is to keep a steady mind."
The WTA season closed with Swiatek's number one, Ons Jabeur's second and Jessica Pegula's third. Swiatek impressed with 11,085 points, double the second. The Polish player played explosively with eight titles after nine finals, including Roland Garros and the US Open. She won four WTA 1000 tournaments and lost only the WTA 500 final at the Ostrava Open. Swiatek has been the world number one since March, when then number one Ashleigh Barty announced her retirement.
