Caroline Garcia will turn 24 next week so she decided to give herself an early birthday present. After a fluctuating year, she seems to have found her groove in China as she went on to dominate the biggest event of the Asian swing on the hard court. A late surge puts her in a position to hope for a last-minute WTA Finals in her Singapore appearance. She went on to stun the soon to be world No. 1 Simona Halep in straight sets to secure the first Premier Mandatory title of her career and the second triumph in a row after last week's successful run in Wuhan (Premier 5).
She is now eighth in the WTA Race surpassing Johanna Konta who may lose her place in Singapore on a tight margin for the second year in a row. Last year it was Svetlana Kuznetsova who killed off the Brit's hopes by winning the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.
Caroline Garcia handled Simona Halep with a solid tennis output
Ranked 15th in the world before this tournament, the Frenchwoman become the first unseeded player to reach the final of the Premier Mandatory event in Beijing. She made the most out of that swing of momentum as she entered the final having won her last ten matches. After a sloppy start, she bounced back to rule the game. She managed to secure the inaugural set by breaking Simona Halep's serve at 5-4.
The second set went down on a similar trend. Trailing from behind, the 26-year-old Romanian was unable to exploit any of the chances she had. The seventh game proved to be a key moment of the encounter with Caroline Garcia surviving nine break points in a game that lasted about fifteen minutes. It all went down to a tie-break where the new WTA sensation from France was in total control, converting the first match point she had.
Garcia aims Singapore debut, Halep tastes world No. 1 recognition
It was a solid week of tennis from both competitors as they finished the week with some extraordinary things under their belts. Simona Halep will surpass Garbine Muguruza and is set to become the 25th world No. 1 in the WTA history tomorrow when the ranking is updated.
On the other side, Caroline Garcia has become the only one who can replace Johanna Konta in Singapore. The British No. 1 has been struggling with form recently and she might lose her spot.
Moreover, Caroline Garcia will break inside the top 10 for the first time. It was an unexpected late surge that put her in the spotlight. It seems that after years of struggle she has finally got the right recipe for success.
