There are unmistakable signs, like this 2nd set ball for Leylah Fernandez at 30-40 on Caroline Garcia’s serve. In her dark hours, she would surely have cracked to embark on a painful 3rd set. At its peak, the French slammed an outside ace, to disgust you the Canadian. And in the end? A two-set victory for Air Caro (7-6, 7-5) in the second round of the Australian Open against a world top 20-30 player.
“It was the one who would be the most aggressive,” said the winner of the last Masters, who also made it to the semi-finals of the US Open last year. In the next round, Garcia will face Laura Siegmund, who fell No. 27 seed Irina-Camelia Begu in the previous round. A match which, on paper, should prove less difficult for the Frenchwoman, whom nothing seems to be able to stop for the moment. Hope it lasts.