World No.4 Caroline Garcia broke down in tears and expressed despair after falling to Colombian qualifier Camila Osorio in the third round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, her fifth loss to a player ranked outside the Top 50 in 2023.
On a rainy Saturday in Rome, the world No.100 Osorio upset the fifth-seeded Garcia 6-4 6-4 to record her first Top 5 win and reach the last 16 of a WTA 1000 event for the first time. Garcia had won her previous seven matches against qualifiers/lucky losers and entered the third-round match with a 1-0 win-loss record against Osorio herself.
Talking to L’Equipe, the Frenchwoman tried to explain what didn’t work in her game, forcing her to make unnecessary mistakes: “A bit of everything, in fact. Often the intentions aren’t bad, but the execution is quite bad. Once it accumulates, I can’t take it anymore, it gets on my nerves, it frustrates me enormously.”
“It’s been like this for quite some time. Sometimes it’s hard,” said Garcia, as she started crying at the post-match press conference. “I try, but it doesn’t work.”
“I make the effort, I feel like I’m doing things well and I want to go all the way,” Garcia explained. But despite her hard work and dedication, she is increasingly frustrated by her lack of success in competition. “When I arrive on the court, everything I did well, I don’t do anymore,” she lamented. This disconnect between her preparation and her performance is causing her a great deal of anxiety and self-doubt.
“After a while, I would like to know why, at least manage to control it and change that,” Garcia said, expressing her determination to find a way to overcome these obstacles. However, despite her efforts, she feels like she is sinking deeper into a spiral of frustration and disappointment. “Instead of enjoying the moment on the court, it becomes a nightmare,” she described the toll that this experience is taking on her mental and emotional well-being.
I watched the highlights. It seemed like Osorio had a lot of variety and was doing drop shots and lobs and Garcia was just trying to smash through her. Osorio looks like an interesting player.
Osorio benefited from the wet conditions. Her ability to execute superb lobs, showcase brilliant defensive play, and even pull off clever sliced passing shots to counter Garcia’s net attack was truly remarkable. Moreover, she moved her serves around and strived to be ready for the first shots.