Goodbye little planes! Garcia is officially retired

On May 26, 2025, 31-year-old French tennis star Caroline Garcia ended her 15-year tennis career at Susan Lenglen Arena with a first-round defeat to Pera, which also means the end of her 15-year tennis career. The player, known for her violent bottom-line play, has left a deep mark on the tennis world with her passion and tenacity. Her career has been marked by both highlights and technical bottlenecks, and her retirement statement "I'm grateful to tennis for making me a strong, passionate and determined woman" aptly sums up her tennis life.

Garcia's career began in 2011. Especially in the second round of the French Open against Sharapova, her performance of daring to fight and newborn calves not afraid of tigers infected everyone, and Murray said bluntly after watching this match that "she will definitely become the world's No. 1 in the future"! Garcia didn't go well, and it wasn't until Bogotá 2014 that she won her first career singles title. Since then, she has gradually blossomed in the singles and doubles arena. In 2016, she partnered compatriot Mladenovic to win the French Open Women's Doubles, her first Grand Slam title. In the same year, she won the grass court in Mallorca, becoming France's number one women's singles player.

2017 was a turning point in Garcia's career. She reversed Barty in the final of the Wuhan Open Tennis Championships and won the Super Five Championship; He then defeated the then world No. 1 Halep in the China Open Crown Tournament and became the first player to achieve "Wuhan Open-China Open back-to-back championships". The feat not only earned her 11 straight wins, but also brought her into the top 10 for the first time in the world rankings. In the same year, she qualified for the WTA Finals for the first time, and despite losing her first group game, she burst into tears in the second round against Svitolina and finally reached the semi-finals as a dark horse.

Garcia's best singles Grand Slam record is the semi-finals of the 2022 US Open, but the doubles field is even brighter, as she and Mladenovic have been crowned Grand Slam women's doubles champions three times. 2022 was a year of redemption for her, as she won the 1000 in Cincinnati for the first time, and then she defeated Sabalenka in the final of the year-end finals, becoming only the second Frenchman after Mauresmo to win the singles title in the event.

Garcia's style of play is centered on "violent offense on the first three boards". Her forehand is powerful and her serve is threatening, especially on fast courts, where she overwhelms her opponents with snatch returns and baseline attacks. This style gives her an advantage against players with a single tempo, such as her 4-1 advantage over Branislav Ivanovic. However, the singularity of technology became the main reason for her later decline. As she gets older, her baseline movement and defensive ability deteriorate, and her over-reliance on the gambling-style attack of the top three boards leads to a lack of consistency. In the face of players with a changeable style of play, she often falls into passivity because she can't adapt to the change of pace.

The doubles duo of Garcia and Mladenovic was once the pride of French tennis. In 2016, the pair won back-to-back titles in Charleston, Stuttgart, Madrid and the French Open, and secured a place in the year-end finals. However, the partnership came to an abrupt end due to communication issues. In 2017, Garcia unilaterally announced the termination of his partnership via text message, causing Mladenovic to publicly express his disappointment: "We shared glory, but she didn't even have the courage to explain it face-to-face. Dramatically, in 2022, the two teamed up again to win the French Open as wildcards, showing the complex friendship of professional tennis.

Garcia's private life has sparked speculation. Because of her intimate interactions with female friends and her gender-neutral appearance, some fans mistakenly believe that she is gay. However, she suddenly announced her engagement to her Spanish boyfriend in 2024, completely shattering the rumors from the outside world. After retiring from the game, she revealed that she would pursue a career in business, having participated in the Harvard Business School's athlete training program and founding the podcast "Tennis Insider Club" to show a diverse life plan.

Garcia's career was full of regrets: never breaking through the semi-finals in singles Grand Slams, technical shortcomings, ...... breakdown of the doubles partnership, and ultimately failing to live up to the heights that Murray had predicted for her at the time, Garcia responded: "I always dreamed of winning the championship. Unfortunately, I will never be able to achieve this goal again. I've been crying every day since this week. I've been racing with all kinds of emotions. The good, the bad...... Sometimes, the pressure and the willpower to play well can break me. I would like to thank everyone who supported me. My family, friends, and my fiancé for the past two years have also been very supportive. The last two years have been tough for me and he really gave me motivation. To end my career in a way that I love tennis and not hate it, I want to thank him for making me who I am. I want to thank you too. It's a great chapter. Thank you all. Even so, her achievements have been dazzling enough – 11 singles titles, two French Open doubles titles, a year-end finals top, and a top singles world ranking of No. 4.

In her retirement statement, she emotionally said: "Roland Garros will be my last stop, let's fight for our dreams one last time. The contestant, who once used the slogan "FlyWithCaro", may continue to "fly" in the field of business or public welfare in the future. Just like the blessing of Wuwang: "May your life still be full of strength and surprises." ”

Garcia's career is like a tennis-filled tennis epic, with violent aesthetics, ups and downs, and complex interpersonal relationships, all of which together outline a real and three-dimensional image of an athlete. Her retirement is not the end, but the beginning of a new chapter.(Source: Tennis Home Author: Xiaodi)