Australian Open: Despite relegation, Garcia “basically has tennis to win a Grand Slam.”

Part of the night, due to her sick daughter, Marion Bartoli periodically followed the defeat in the 1/8 finals in Melbourne by Carolina Garcia (7-6, 6-4 against the polka Lynette) of … Tarbes, where she coaches the Indian player for the Petits As Tournament, the championship world among boys under 14 years old. The 2013 Wimbledon winner is watching the Australian Open with even greater attention as she also advises Elena Ostapenko, who will face Rybakina in the quarter-finals on Monday night.

The former world No. 7 doesn’t want to dramatize the failure of Garcia, who we already envisioned replacing him a few days later on the Major’s list following a carnage among the favorites. And he knows exactly where Lyonnaise has gone. “There is pressure, a new status, a table that seems open after the elimination of the top seed lists the former No. 1 tricolor. I experienced this in 2013. It’s so hard to manage. I was lucky that I got there, because before that I had already played in the finals of the Grand Slam tournaments. (Editor’s Note: Lost at Wimbledon in 2007 to Venus Williams) and I already knew how to win six games. Not seven, but six is ​​already huge (Editor’s note: Last summer, Garcia stopped at five in the US Open semi-finals.). But I am sure that Caro will have other chances and at the current level of world tennis, she is very easily in the top five. So there are bound to be other possibilities. »

From the start of the competition, Garcia didn’t look at his plate. As well as her sluggish victory over the German Siegemund in the previous round. As if crushed by his own expectations, necessarily very high. “The girl in front comes up too. It is enough to miss the opportunity, he thinks, risks, continues Bartoli. The other relaxes, he has nothing to lose. Even for Novak Djokovic, the Grand Slam is not a long, calm river. For Karo, it’s an apprenticeship to digest his new status. But when you have the qualities to win big tournaments like the Masters, it means that there are only a few percent left, and I’m sure that will pass with time. »

As long as you’re not overwhelmed by what’s at stake. “She knows it, everyone will be waiting for her at the turn of this year, it’s obvious,” Bartoli exhales. But I think she’s well rounded, it’s also good that she took Julien (Editor’s note: Benneteau, Fed Cup captain) in a sparring partner. He also knows these intense matches. The more she surrounds herself with people who have known the mechanics of the scheme for a very long time, the better she will be able to relativize, desacralize and play her matches. I repeat, she has enough tennis to win a Grand Slam. She will still have open tables, and she will get to them … “