Caroline Garcia had just one word on her mind after winning the 2022 Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals on Monday.
“CHAMPIONNNNNN,” the 29-year-old tweeted.
The championship ended the week-long tournament at the Dickies Center in Fort Worth, which marked the first time North Texas hosted the event and its return to America for the first time in nearly 20 years. Originally, it was set to be held in Shenzhen, China, but it was decided to come to Texas on account of Chinese lockdown policies, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Garcia, the No. 6-seed, defeated the No. 7-seed, Aryna Sabalenka, 7-6(4), 6-4 to win the tennis championship.
Garcia started wearing a cowboy hat ahead of the tournament’s start and continued through her post-win interview proudly wearing the lid. She said it was hard to pick one part of her game that helped her win in Fort Worth and that it was not just a physical trait.
“I am just very proud I kept my mind calm,” she told the WTA Tour. “I really focused one game at a time, one point at a time.”
Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens of Belgium won the doubles title after defeating defending champions Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková of the Czech Republic in a competitive match.
The singles championship capped off a thrilling week-long tournament. The Finals are the WTA’s prestigious year-end finale, featuring the world’s top eight singles players and doubles teams.
Both singles and doubles runners-up received glass sculptures from Fort Worth’s SiNACa Glass Studios, and all the participants left with cowboy hats.
The championship had a loud crowd, with the audience seemingly split down the middle in their support for Garcia and Sabalenka.
“The atmosphere was unbelievable. I mean, I, to be honest, I didn’t expect that my support for me here, and people support me a lot here, and I really enjoyed every second playing. It was, atmosphere was unbelievable. Really,” Sabalenka explained afterward.
Garcia put on a show and reached new heights, a press release from the WTA reported. Garcia’s comeback culminated in her 11th and biggest career title in defeating Sabalenka to win.
Garcia becomes the second French woman to win the WTA Finals, following Amélie Mauresmo in 2005. This season, Garcia went 4-0 in the finals and has risen to fourth place in the rankings.
“I was really focused on my intentions, what I needed to do technically to serve as well as I could,” Garcia said. “And today was without a doubt one of the best service games I played throughout the tournament.”
