After defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the championship match on Monday, French star Caroline Garcia took home the WTA Finals trophy. She won 7-6 (4), 6-4, earning $1.57 million in cash and 1,375 rankings points. After Amelie Mauresmo in 2005, Garcia became the first Frenchwoman to win the WTA Finals.
Here are the important figures
In the group stage matches, she defeated Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek in straight sets. Then, after dropping the opening set against Daria Kasatkina, Garcia put on an amazing comeback. Maria Sakkari was defeated by Garcia in the semifinals. Garcia, who defeated Sabalenka, became the first person to reach the WTA Finals final at age 29 since Venus in 2017.
Garcia won the WTA Finals championship, making her the 25th player to do it. She is followed by 2005’s Amelie Mauresmo as the second Frenchwoman to win the WTA Finals. Garcia became the fourth player under the age of 29 to win the WTA Finals. The others are Serena Williams (2012), Jana Novotna (1997), and Martina Navratilova (1986, 2013, and 2014).
Other records broken by Garcia
Since Venus Williams, Garcia became the only player over 29 to qualify for the WTA Finals final (2017). The former is also the only French player since Amelie Mauresmo to win seven or more games against opponents ranked in the top 10 in a calendar year (2009). After Amelie Mauresmo and Mary Pierce, she is the third Frenchwoman to advance to the WTA Finals championship match.
She has won every final in which she has competed this year, it should be noted. She defeated Petra Kvitova in August to claim the Western & Southern Open title. Caroline had previously defeated Ana Bogdan in the Paribas Poland Open final. She won the Bad Homburg Open in June by staging a thrilling comeback against Bianca Andreescu.