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Caroline Garcia admitted that she was probably a bit lucky to win the first set against Leylah Fernandez at the Australian Open. In the Australian Open second round, fourth-seeded Garcia edged out Fernandez 7-6 (5) 7-5. "I felt after the first set it was a little bit of a robbery from my side.
She was pretty much up the whole time, I couldn’t really find my rhythm, but I just tried to play one point at a time, stay in the present and it was very important for me," Garcia said after the match, per the Australian Open website.
Garcia, 29, was playing against 20-year-old Fernandez for the first time and the Frenchwoman underlined that the Canadian was a very difficult opponent. "I had to make a lot of adjustments, she was playing very early, moving me very well with her forehand.
Today was always going to be for who was more aggressive and more inside the court," Garcia said of Fernandez.
How Garcia defeated Fernandez
The first break of the match was seen in the fifth game, when Fernandez broke Garcia for a 3-2 lead.
However, Fernandez's lead was short-lived as Garcia broke back immediately in the sixth game to tie the first set to three games apiece. Fernandez again had a chance to break Garcia, but the Canadian missed out on two break points in the ninth game and two more in the 11th game.
In the first-set tie-break, Fernandez had a 5-2 lead before Garcia won five points in a row to overturn the deficit and win the opener. Down by a set, Fernandez had two break points on Garcia's serve in the sixth game of the second set but didn't convert.
Then in the 10th game, Fernandez had a set point on Garcia's serve but didn't realize. After saving break points in the sixth and 10th games, Garcia earned the first break of the second set in the 11th game for a 6-5 lead. In the 12th game, Garcia served out for a two-set win over Fernandez.