'It Hurts A Little': Garcia On Not Getting Chance To Defend Her WTA Finals Title

| by Erik Virostko

Caroline Garcia won't get a chance to defend her title at the year-end WTA tournament, the 2023 WTA Finals in Cancun, and she recently spoke about it.

The French player previously peaked in 2017, when she managed to win two WTA 1000 titles and finish the year as the world no. 8. Five years later, Garcia proved that she still has what it takes, winning the 2022 Cincinnati Masters, and subsequently the 2022 WTA Finals.

However, defending the Finals title is probably one of the most difficult things to do in tennis. That's because of two simple reasons, one of them is that only the eight best players in the given year play the tournament, meaning that between three to five Top 8 wins are needed to lift the title, something players don't have to do at any other tournament.

On top of that, as only eight best players in the given year qualify for the tournament, no one has the participation granted, and obviously, there are no wild cards. That means, that after Garcia won the title in 2022, her previous results meant nothing, as she had to be one of the best eight players in 2023 to qualify for the tournament.

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She didn't manage to do that, as her 2023 season wasn't so successful as the season before. It became evident after some surprising results, such as the first-round US Open exit. In a recent talk with RMC, the French player talked about missing out on the event.

"I've known for several weeks that I wasn't going to qualify for the Finals this year. Compared to the latest results, we will say that it is logical. Even though I had it in the back of my mind, I knew that I had to obtain extraordinary results and that by coming out in the first round of the US Open, it was going to be very complicated."

Yet, finishing 20th in the 2023 WTA Race, Garcia qualified for the 2023 WTA Elite Trophy, a second-tier year-end competition on the WTA Tour, which will be played in Zhuhai this year.

Despite not getting a chance to defend her WTA Finals title, Garcia will certainly want to prove her qualities and show that she's got what it takes even at the lower-tier year-end tournament.

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