'I learned so much about myself’: Garcia reflects on 2022

Caroline Garcia has earned herself a well-deserved holiday after capping off her resurgent 2022 season by winning the WTA Finals and leading France back to the World Group at the Billie Jean King Cup. In a lengthy message posted to Twitter, the 29-year-old reflected on her journey and lessons learned in a season that saw her surge from No.75 to a return to her career-high No.4 ranking in the span of five months. 

"I cried from pain, sadness and joy in 11 months but I learned so much about myself as a player and a person," Garcia wrote. "Several times I was invaded by doubts, let myself be overwhelmed by the negative. I questioned the universe, told myself that maybe my luck had passed, that I would never succeed again. I've had sleepless nights, binge eating, cried in my hotel room, cried on tennis courts, been on crutches, swore, relearned to walk, I struggled to find shoes, I suffered physically and mentally.

"But I also learned from every moment, every difficulty, my foot injury made me realize how much I wanted to come back to the courts and above all play my real game, the one I liked to watch, offensive tennis.

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Garcia was sidelined by a foot injury for two months and her ranking slipped outside the Top 70 by the time the grass season began. She went on to win four titles through the last half of the season, made her first major semifinal at the US Open and finished with the biggest title of her career, in Fort Worth.

"This injury allowed me to play more liberated," she wrote. "I learned to let go, I learned to accept my mistakes, the unexpected, to delegate, to trust myself, to follow my instincts, that I can eat a pizza from time to time, it was not going to change the result of the next day."

"By building day by day, by staying positive, by having confidence, with simple goals in mind -- to be healthy, to do my best day by day, to live in the present moment, to play my game to the fullest -- I ended up living the best season of my career!"

Read Garcia's full post below: