Caroline Garcia falls in first round to No. 114 Wang Yafan a year after US Open semis run

FLASHBACK: Garcia tops Sabalenka for 2022 WTA Finals crown

At last year’s US Open, Caroline Garcia arrived on the heels of winning the Cincinnati crown as a qualifier. It was her third title in a momentous upward trend that had also seen her topple Iga Swiatek for her first win over a world No. 1 a month earlier.

Garcia went on to reach her long-awaited major singles semifinal at Flushing Meadows, decisively defeating Coco Gauff in the last eight, and later closed the year with a bang. In Fort Worth, she captured the biggest title of her career at the WTA Finals in cementing her return to a career-high ranking of No. 4.

That flying high feeling Garcia so often experienced in 2022 has been mostly absent this season. On Tuesday, the Frenchwoman never got off the runway in her Queens return.

Seeded No. 7, Garcia was sent packing by 114th-ranked qualifier Wang Yafan, 6-4, 6-1, after just 69 minutes. Wang saved all three break points she faced and had help from Garcia, who provided 34 unforced errors in defeat.

The 29-year-old Beijing native celebrated her first main-draw victory at a Grand Slam event since 2019 Wimbledon and looks to reach the third round of any major for the first time. This marked her second Top 10 victory, adding to a second-round upset over then world No. 5 Elina Svitolina at the 2019 Miami Open.

With the loss, Garcia is now on a 12-14 stretch dating back to a fourth-round exit at Indian Wells. The highest-ranked opponent she’s beaten this year was her first of the season, No. 38 Petra Martic at the United Cup. Garcia, who finished runner-up at a pair of WTA 250 events in Lyon (l. to Parks) and Monterrey (l. to Vekic), is outside the Top 20 standings for the Race to the WTA Finals.