Caroline Garcia - last stop in Paris

"Dear tennis, it’s time to say goodbye"

With these words, Caroline Garcia began her announcement on Friday on social media, letting her fans know that she has decided to bring her career to an end. While the exact date that she will step away from competition is yet to be confirmed, it is already certain that this will be her last Roland-Garros.

"After 15 years competing at the highest level, and more than 25 years investing pretty much every second of my life into it, I feel ready to start a new chapter [...] Still, this is not over - not just yet. I still have some tournaments left. The first one is at home, at Roland-Garros. My 14th consecutive time being part of it. And my last. So, to all my tennis family who'll be around, let’s meet one more time, to dream and fight together."

'Caro' and 'Roland': A winning duo

The wonderful story between Caroline Garcia and Roland-Garros began in 2011 and will conclude in 2025. Almost exactly 14 years ago, the tennis world discovered this young 17-year-old from Lyon, ranked No.188 and full of dreams. Granted a wild card, she made the most of it by shaking up the great Maria Sharapova, No.7 seed and former world No.1. That colourful second round match earned praise from the entire tour, including Andy Murray, the first to predict a golden future for Garcia.

"It was a lot of pressure coming out of nowhere when I was just a very young player," she later reflected.

'Caro' turned her dreams into reality almost everywhere she went, and Paris was no exception. Although it was in the United States that she achieved her greatest individual achievements (US Open semi-final and victory at the WTA Finals in Fort Worth in 2022) and in Australia that she had her greatest team happiness (in the Fed Cup, Perth 2019), it was on Roland-Garros clay in 2016 that she won the first major title of her career, alongside partner Kristina Mladenovic.

The following year, she spread her wings in singles, reaching the quarter-finals, her best individual result on Parisian clay. That flight was stopped by world No.2 Karolina Pliskova, but it didn’t prevent her from getting back on track and reaching the fourth round twice, in 2018 and 2020.

But it was likely destined that Garcia would share her greatest adventures in Paris with her partner Mladenovic. Six years after their first big crown, the two players - invited by the tournament - set out on another incredible run, toppling No.2 seeds Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula to reclaim "their" trophy.

"There is no better title for us than Roland-Garros," Caroline said. "The atmosphere was amazing, you gave me chills. It’s a pleasure and an honor to have so many people here for a Grand Slam final."

She’ll surely have plenty of fans cheering for her this year. Will that support be enough to give her one last thrill at Roland-Garros? The first test comes against American Bernarda Pera.