Andrea Petkovic has been left frustrated with the conduct of one player, who she thinks has all the talent in the world but not nearly enough application to reach the lofty heights expected.
Her suggestion is further strengthened by their showing in the Miami Open, knocking out two top players before then making way herself with relative ease, admittedly to the would-be champion Danielle Collins.
Such quality but unrelenting inconsistency can only be attributed to Caroline Garcia, with this pundit left exhausted by the world number 27’s inability to maintain her form.
Andrea Petkovic left frustrated with Caroline Garcia
Speaking on Racquet’s Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Petkovic, who enjoyed a 16-year tennis career herself, was left frustrated with how the French tennis player continues to underperform despite her obvious talents.
In releasing her annoyance on the 30-year-old, the German even made one big claim, suggesting that Garcia should have already won numerous major titles due to her talent alone.
Petkovic noted: ‘The thing with her is, and I think that’s her problem, she still wins matches, because as we just mentioned she’s one of the best servers in the world, and if she somehow gets to a break point and her positioning is threatening and somebody serves a double fault, she will win the match because she serves so well it’s often so hard to break her.
‘And you will see often she wins matches 6-4, 6-4, one break each. However, the problem is this type of player has never gone further than quarter-finals in a Grand Slam tournament. Or maybe she made semis at the US Open once. Why is that?
‘She should have had five Grand Slam titles, and the reason is if you play this high risk of a game, during a fortnight of a tournament, a major tournament is two weeks long, you will have a bad day. Other players win on a bad day, and Garcia loses every single time and that’s why she’s never won a Grand Slam, and with the talent she has she should be a multiple major tournament champion.’
Caroline Garcia lacks the consistency to win major titles
As Petkovic notes, her inability to find a consistent rhythm, made so due to her risky style of play, will forever prohibit her from challenging for the elite titles.
The likes of Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff are all solid, well-rounded players who may have minor deficiencies, but have worked to hide them as well as possible.
As such, on bad days they can pull through because of their solid, all-around game.
Garcia does not have that, and her reliance on quality emerging in random spurts is a tactic that simply cannot command the elite honours of tennis.
It’s such a shame, because she is so talented. She has showcased that on numerous occasions, and admittedly does have 11 career titles to show for it.
However, nowadays she is just a frustration more than anything, very often claiming a big scalp by knocking out a potential contender before then making way herself when on paper she should cruise through.
Garcia is the Robin Hood of tennis. She takes from the rich, having beaten Naomi Osaka and Gauff over the past week, and then gives to the poor, exiting far earlier than expected.
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