Garcia Completes Asian Double Beating Halep To Win Beijing

Caroline Garcia collected the biggest title of her career beating Simona Halep 6-4, 7-6(3) to win the Premier Mandatory event in Beijing.

Garcia needed over three hours to beat Elina Svitolina on Friday, then in the semis beat Petra Kvitova, showed no signs of fatigue against the newly-minted No. 1 Halep and win her 11th straight match following her Wuhan title last week.

“I was like, ‘Seriously, this really happen?'” Garcia said. “I mean, it was such an amazing two weeks. It went so fast.

“The key was definitely to be aggressive and try to dominate the rallies. My serve was really an important thing because she’s a very good returner,” said Garcia. “I have to be aggressive, but I have to control myself sometimes.”

Halep, who loses her fourth straight final, finished just 1/10 on break chances, 0-for-9 in the second set!

“I think I played well,” Halep said. “I hit the ball well. I served pretty okay. But she served better in the important moments. So I’m okay with the performance and I’m okay that I could do a great match.

“I think I fought till the end, which I’m really happy about,” Halep added. “She played an amazing tennis. To win two tournaments in a row, it’s a great thing. She deserved to win today. She was better.”

And after taking both big Asian events, Garcia moves into the Top 10.

“To win a title, it always means something because you finish the week undefeated,” Garcia said. “You stay forever a winner of this tournament. So it definitely means something.”

“To be in the top 10 also means something because it’s a step in your career that you want to achieve,” she said. “You never know if you’re going to reach it, but it’s a very important goal. It means you are a part of the top 10 best players in the world.”