A teary-eyed Garcia plays her final French Open match

PARIS (AP) — Caroline Garcia wiped away a tear in the tunnel leading to Court Suzanne-Lenglen on Monday. She brushed it off, smiled, then stepped into the light — for what turned out to be her final singles match at the French Open.

The 31-year-old Frenchwoman, who announced on Friday she will retire later this season, lost in the first round to American Bernarda Pera 6-4, 6-4.

It was Garcia’s 14th consecutive appearance at her home Grand Slam tournament.

After the match, Garcia stayed on court to deliver an emotional speech to a packed Suzanne-Lenglen crowd. She received a standing ovation, with French fans chanting her name for several minutes.

“I tried to fight until the end,” Garcia said, her voice trembling. “Since the start of the season, I knew this would be my last Roland-Garros. I hesitated to say it out loud because I didn’t know how I’d handle the emotions — and this week, the tears have come every single day.”

She thanked the French public, her family, her fiancé, and the sport itself for shaping her identity.

“It’s time to say goodbye,” Garcia had written in a social media post. “After 15 years competing at the highest level, and over 25 years devoting almost every second of my life to this sport, I feel ready to turn the page and open a new chapter.”

Garcia has won 11 WTA titles and captured the WTA Finals crown in 2022, the same year she reached the U.S. Open semifinals. She also won the French Open doubles title in 2016 and climbed as high as No. 4 in the singles rankings in 2018.

Her path hasn’t always been smooth. Injuries, pressure, and a break from the sport in 2022 tested her resolve. That same year, she revealed she had struggled with eating disorders, triggered by the physical pain of a foot injury and the emotional toll of the tour.

Though Garcia bid farewell to Roland-Garros, she said she hopes to play two more majors.

“I would like to go to Wimbledon,” she said. “Depends on my ranking, of course, because I went down. Depends if I get a wild card or not. And then the U.S. Open.”

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis