Caroline Garcia is unstoppable.

Despite a sore left arm and the rain disrupting her progress, she qualified for the final of the WTA 1000 in Cincinnati, the last major repetition on hard nine days before the US Open, beating Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday.

This victory is all the more beautiful as the Frenchwoman becomes the first player from qualifying to reach a WTA 1000 final.

Aged 28, the 35th in the world won 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 at the expense of the Belarusian (7th).

“No one expected that, that's for sure!

Noted Caroline Garcia, savoring her feat, which accredits her return to her best level.

" It's awesome.

This is my first final of a WTA 1000 after so many years”, exclaimed again the one who won her first two in Wuhan and Beijing in 2017, before reaching the semi-finals of the Masters in Singapore. .

A “simply incredible” scenario

“This time it's very different because obviously coming from qualifying you don't really expect to be in the final.

It's a long way to go.

I wasn't very far from the main draw.

I asked for a wild card, I didn't get it.

There were a lot of good players, Americans.

So it was one game at a time, trying to improve throughout the tournament,” Garcia explained.

The 35th in the world also had to face difficult conditions, since the match was interrupted twice, first for 2h30, then 1h30 extra.

“Today's scenario was just amazing.

You never know when you'll be back.

It was a long wait, and during that time you never know what you're supposed to do, so it was tough.

I'm very happy with the way I prepared for my return to the court at 3-1 (in the last set).

I was really ready for every point.

It made the difference”.

“We don't always give you an hour back to play. You try to eat a little something but not too much.

Just rest and read and then talk with the coach to see what we can improve, what I did well,” she added.

Left arm problem

Caroline Garcia, who had her left forearm bandaged in the second set, did not expand on the origin of her discomfort.

"I don't know what's going on with my arm.

There's a long list of weird things that have happened since the beginning of the year… I'll try to deal with it as best I can, but I'm sure it will hold up”.

In the final, against Petra Kvitova, the Frenchwoman believes that “the most aggressive will probably win”.

“A final is the game you look forward to.

It's a big challenge for me to play against Petra.

I will try to keep playing my way as best I can."

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