Caroline Garcia (Twitter)
The world No. 10 Caroline Garcia will square off against the 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens in the round of 16 of the Guadalajara Open on Thursday.
The 29-year-old will be elated after booking her spot in the 2022 WTA finals for the first time since 2017. She did not have a great first half of the season but made up for it with some unstoppable campaigns in recent months. In March, she made it to the semi-finals in the Lyon Open. However, her performances on either side of the tournament were quite underwhelming. She began her merry run by winning the Bad Homburg Open. At the Ladies Open Lausanne, she reached the semis. In Poland, Garcia bagged her second title of the season after defeating Ana Bogdan in the final. In the Cincinnati Masters, Garcia defeated some of the biggest names on the tour en route to winning her third title. She also made it to the semis in the US Open.
After crashing out of the San Diego Open in the round of 32, Garcia defeated Rebecca Marino in a closely-contested match to progress to the round of 16 of the Guadalajara Open.
The American tennis pro made it to the quarter-finals in the French Open but her run was ended by compatriot and eventual runner-up Coco Gauff. Stephens won the title at the Abierto Zapopan and that has been her only victorious campaign so far in 2022. She came into the Guadalajara Open on the back of an exit in the round of 16 of the San Diego Open.
Stephens made light work of Linda Fruhvirtova in the round of 64 of the Guadalaraja Open. The veteran won the match 6-0, 6-2. In the round of 32, Stephens defeated 10th seed Belinda Bencic in straight sets 6-4, 6-4.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 4-1 in favor of Caroline Garcia. She defeated Stephens in three sets in the 2021 Western & Southern Open.
Prediction: Caroline Garcia to win in three sets.
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