Grass season looking good as Caroline Garcia wins Nottingham title
When she awoke on Sunday morning Caroline Garcia had two things on her bucket list to fill. It was necessary to finish off the match with Jennifer Brady as the sets were 4-6, 6-3, 4-3 in Garcia's favor. If she defeated her, the final would start with Croatia's Donna Vekic, who was waiting patiently for the winner.
Garcia had her work cut out for her and right away showed her aggression on getting the other games on Brady to finish the match in short order. She had taken a break and then waited for Donna Vekic on Center Court for the Nottingham final. It was hard to tell who had the advantage for success at the English title. Vekic was relaxed and rested from the day before's victory of 5-7, 6-0, 6-0 over German's Tatjana Maria. Garcia was warmed up from winning the semifinal with Brady to play only two games and then to start the final with Vekic.
The Croatian lady knew that being aggressive was the best to grab that first set and did accordingly. Garcia was accumulating unforced errors and didn't create a good look as Vekic hit her marks precisely and lead in 5 games as Garcia only gathered 2. Vekic won the opening set 6-2. But the second set was another story as both stayed focused, the Frenchwoman started getting spirited and led 4 to 2. She continued on a rampage and broke Vekic to send the set to a tiebreak. Garcia was blasting shots and made the right ones to find the open court and to go down the lines to win the tiebreak. The deciding set was suspenseful as the games were tied at 4-all. Both played aggressive, strong and precise but soon Vekic lead 6-5. It was Garcia though who came up with making it another tiebreak. She felt the match was in her reach and it took over two hours with gritty plays at the right time to have the advantage. Garcia was the last one to serve and happened to blast an ace on championship point to capture the match and the title.
It was her 7th career title, the second one on grass and was glad the tournament was over. "It was very difficult to adapt," she had said on dealing with the days of continuous rain and playing indoors. But she remained focused knowing she had to win two matches in one day. "It was such a battle to come back from this morning," she smilingly said and looks forward to her continued grass season onto Mallorca. On the other hand, Vekic also tried diligently to win and got emotional on the shoulder's of Eurosport commentator Annabel Croft. "She played unbelievable...you guys, the crowds have been amazing...I'm very sad but I hope to come back here again," she said disappointed but grateful. She soon gave a forced smile and gathered her bags after the award presentation and left the stadium.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2KU9nQU
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