Garcia doubles up in Bogota

 

Originally published on 14/04/14

The 20-year-old defeated top seed and defending champion Jelena Jankovic in the final 6-3 6-4 to lift the title in Bogota.

Andy Murray earmarked Garcia as a future world No.1 three years ago, when as a 17-year-old wildcard ranked No.188 in the world, she led Maria Sharapova by a set and a double break at Roland Garros before eventually falling to the Russian in three sets.

It was Garcia’s first win against a top 10 player, and her victory sees her on the verge of breaking into the world’s top 50 – moving to a career-high No.51. It capped an extraordinary week for the Frenchwoman, who also lifted the doubles title with Lara Arruabarrena – the first player to do the double at a WTA-level event since Serena Williams at the 2012 Olympics.

"I'm very happy to win my first WTA title," Garcia said. "It was a good week for me. It's never easy playing with the altitude – it's hard to adapt, and my level was going up and down throughout the week – but I think I adjusted well and I probably played my best match of the week today in the final.

"I'm also really happy I was able to beat Jelena in the final. She's a really nice girl and a great player – she was the No.1 player in the world – and I had to play the best I could today to beat her. To win a WTA title is always a goal. Today is the best day I could imagine."

With Alize Cornet beating Camila Giorgi to win the title in Katowice, it marked the first time since October 2007 that two Frenchwomen have won WTA titles in the same week, when Virginie Razzano lifted the Japan Open title and Pauline Parmentier triumphed in Tashkent.

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