This episode of DOWN THE LINE breaks from the usual format.

Co-written with Tennis Radar (another tennis newsletter worth your time if you read Italian), it’s a special collab paying tribute to one of the greats of French tennis.

This newsletter is the natural extension of PAINTING THE LINES. More depth, more data, more detail. It’s where everything comes together

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MERCI BEAUCOUP, MISS GARCIA. ​🙏​

Not every farewell looks the same: some players leave quietly, some walk away at their peak under a standing ovation, some hang on for too long. And then there are those who time it like a perfect volley winner: sharp, elegant, inevitable.

With the calm of someone who knows when to say stop without regrets.

Caroline Garcia belongs to that last group. Born in 1993 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye and raised in Lyon, she was the brightest prospect in French women’s tennis in the last two decades.

She went against the grain, always looking to move forward, charging the net with courage and freedom.

Now, after falls and comebacks, she leaves with the same smile of someone who always trusted her game.

The tour loses a shotmaker… and the sky of tennis its last “little airplane.”

#FlyWithCaro

CAREER IN REVIEW 🎾​

After her Slam debut in 2011, her name started buzzing among insiders, with Andy Murray even tipping her as a future world No.1 back then.

2017 was her breakthrough: the back-to-back Wuhan–Beijing titles shot her into the Top 10.

By September 2018 she had reached her career-high No.4 in singles, a ranking she matched again in November 2022 after winning the WTA Finals.

In doubles, with Kristina Mladenovic, she won two Roland Garros titles (2016 and 2022) and peaked at world No.2.

2022 was her golden year: another Roland Garros doubles crown, titles in Bad Homburg, Warsaw, Cincinnati, and the WTA Finals in Fort Worth. Plus, a semifinal run at the US Open — her best Slam result.

All told: 11 WTA singles titles and 8 in doubles, proof of a rare versatility in today’s game.

And in 2019 she was part of the French Fed Cup team that brought the trophy home.

A career full of highs and lows, always played with intensity, courage, and the hunger to bounce back.

BY THE NUMBERS 📊

• Career-high WTA ranking: No.4

• 11 WTA singles titles

• Roland Garros quarterfinal (2017)

• US Open semifinal (2022)

• WTA Finals champion (2022)

• Fed Cup gold (2019)

• 26 wins over Top 10 opponents (8 of them in 2022)

FAREWELL 🥲​

US Open 2025. A side court, but the atmosphere feels like Ashe. Caroline Garcia plays her last match with the style that made her unique: heavy serve, fearless net rushes, deep groundstrokes. Not enough to win — but enough to leave a mark.

The goodbye was already in the air back in May, when she announced before Roland Garros that this would be her last season. In Paris, the crowd gave her a warm salute, but it’s in New York that the curtain really came down.

In press, she kept it raw: speaking of the grind, the loss of passion, the joy of finding it again before the end. She thanked everyone, promised to stay close to the game in new roles, and walked away with a smile that said:

One of those new roles is already clear: her podcast Tennis Insider Club, where she’ll keep pulling back the curtain on tour life with the same honesty that always defined her.

Caroline Garcia didn’t just leave the game — she left a blueprint. On how to stick to your style even when the game trends the other way. On how to fall, lose belief, and then come back stronger, truer.

Her resume tells the story of a brilliant career. But it’s her courage, authenticity, and freedom on court that make her unforgettable.

The tour loses a star, but gains a voice. With Tennis Insider Club, Caroline Garcia will keep telling the stories from the players’ side — where fears and ambitions collide, in the hidden layers of a life defined by points, flights, solitude, and choices the public rarely sees.

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