World No 5 Caroline Garcia blamed getting “angry and frustrated” for a shock loss against 59th-ranked Mayar Sherif in Madrid. In the Madrid third round, Sherif pulled off an upset as she beat Garcia 7-6 (2) 6-3. For Garcia, it was yet another disappointing and early loss in a big tournament in 2023.
“As often since the beginning of the year, I get angry and I get frustrated too quickly. And after that it’s even worse. I feel like I gave her too much game. It’s too bad. We have to get back to work. At least all of this leaves room for improvement,” Garcia told Quentin Moynet of L’Equipe.
Caroline Garcia : “Comme souvent depuis le début de l’année, je m’énerve et je me frustre trop vite. Et après c’est encore pire. J’ai l’impression de lui avoir trop donné le match. C’est dommage.
Il faut retourner au travail. Au moins tout ça laisse de la place pour s’améliorer.” — Quentin Moynet (@QuentinMoynet) April 29, 2023
How did Garcia lose to Sherif?
Garcia made a positive start to the match, breaking Sherif in the second game for an early 2-0 lead.
However, Garcia’s lead was short-lived as Sherif broke back the Frenchwoman immediately in the third game. In the sixth game, Garcia had two break points but failed to realize as Sherif tied the first set to three games apiece.
Garcia paid the price for not realizing her break points as Sherif broke the Frenchwoman in the seventh game to open a 4-3 lead. Serving for the first set in the 10th game, Sherif failed to close out the first set as Garcia broke back to tie the first set to five games apiece.
Sherif broke Garcia again in the 11th game for a 6-5 lead but again failed to serve out for the first set in the 12th game. However, twice failing to serve out for the first set didn’t impact Sherif much as the Egyptian won six points in the first-set tie-break to take a 6-1 lead before converting her second set point to seal the opener.
After a first set in which both players struggled on their services, no break points in the second set were seen until the eighth game – when Sherif broke Garcia for a 5-3 lead. In the ninth game, Sherif served out for a straight-set win over Garcia.
