France's Caroline Garcia clinched her third title of the season at the Cincinnati Open and climbed back to the top-20 of the women's world rankings.
Caroline Garcia. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
She defeated two-time former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the final to underline her title aspirations for the hardcourt major in New York from Aug. 29.
Garcia, 28, was ranked at a career-high fourth in 2018 but slipped down the ladder due to confusion over her approach of play and injury problems.
Since coming back from a foot injury in May, when she was 79th in the rankings, Garcia has won a WTA 1000 title on hardcourt, won a grasscourt event in Bad Homburg and the Warsaw tournament on clay.
"We made it clear which way I have to play, which direction I have to go," Garcia, who climbed up to world number 17th on Monday, said, referring to her new coach Bertrand Perret and her team.
"So when I step on court, I know what game style I have to play, and I know what I have to do, and always try to do it the best I can."
In Cincinnati, the last big tune-up event before the U.S. Open, Garcia came through the qualifiers before taking down Maria Sakkari, Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula - all three ranked in the top-10 of the women's world rankings.
"When I arrived on tour, I was definitely playing like that," Garcia told reporters about her offensive game, confirming it was the only way forward for her. "That's the way it was working for me. That's the way I learned to play tennis.
"Sometimes I did doubt it, because it was not always working... And then I did it kind of half and half, and it was not working anymore.
"I have to accept that it may not work every time."
Tsitsipas searching for answer after Cincinnati loss to Coric
World number seven Stefanos Tsitsipas was searching for an explanation for his defeat on Sunday against Borna Coric in the Cincinnati Open final after the Greek made a fast start to the contest before fading to a straight-set loss.
Against an opponent still on the comeback trail after surgery on his right shoulder, the 24-year-old Tsitsipas jumped to a 4-1 lead in the opening set but saw the world number 152 Coric turn the tables for a 7-6(0) 6-2 victory.
Asked if he knew what made the difference after his brisk start, Tsitsipas said: "I'm not in any condition to answer this question, because I'm still looking for the answer myself.
"I don't have a clear answer for that."
Tsitsipas, the 2021 French Open runner-up, has a tour-leading 19 Masters 1000 wins this season, winning titles in Monte Carlo and Mallorca, and reaching the finals in Rotterdam and Rome.
He came into the contest against the Croation Coric after defeating U.S. Open champion and world number one Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals of the ATP Masters event, the last big tune-up tournament before the hardcourt major starts from Aug. 29.
"I guess I was too relaxed," Tsitsipas said of the match against Coric. "It cost me.
"He was obviously the opposite of what I was, very much involved. Sometimes it makes you not be that much present in the moment when you're too relaxed. It takes away that momentum that you are trying to capture.
"I think he was serving well. He was making me move a lot. But, yeah, I could have used my chances in the first set. I don't know why I didn't. I rushed a little bit. He had a few good returns, and it cost me because that first set could have been very life-changing."
-Reuters