After a totally missed start to the match, Caroline Garcia was logically beaten by Sorana Cirstea for her entry into the WTA tournament in Miami.
Caroline Garcia may well have found her pet peeve. Beaten by Sorana Cirstea in the round of 16 at the WTA tournament in Indian Wells, the Lyonnaise suffered the same fate against the Romanian for her debut on the Miami courts. A meeting that could not have started in the worst possible way, conceding his service on the first break point of the match. The world number 4 then had three opportunities to immediately pick up the score but none could be converted, practically a constant in this meeting.
Faced with a tense and struggling opponent, Sorana Cirstea did not show feelings and, for the second time in two opportunities, took the serve of Caroline Garcia then saved a break point to lead five games to nothing. A burst of pride from the Habs allowed him to erase one of his two late service games but it was only cautery on a wooden leg. In effect, from the next game, the Romanian took control in the exchange and concluded the first round in 34 short minutes and at the first opportunity.
Explosive POWER 💥@sorana_cirstea | #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/jXIDAYHHb9
— wta (@WTA) March 24, 2023
Garcia had no weapons
Back to the wall to avoid further disillusionment, Caroline Garcia raised her head at the start of the second set. After holding her serve, she pushed her opponent back but, again, success has not been forthcoming. The Habs dropped two break points before finding themselves cornered when Sorana Cirstea had three in her favor in the sixth game. Caroline Garcia found the resources to dismiss them one by one and then hold her serve but this resistance had his limits.
Having the upper hand in the exchange, the 74th player in the world found the fault to break the Frenchwoman and give herself the opportunity to conclude on her face-off. The first match point was good for Sorana Cirstea (6-2, 6-3 in 1h19 ‘), who confirms her success at Indian Wells and joins Karolina Muchova, falling for the seeded number 32 Lin Zhu (6-4, 6-2 in 1h26 ‘) in the third round. For Caroline Garcia, the only good news could be the defeat of Ons Jabeur, which limits the risks around its fourth place in the world at the end of the tournament.