Caroline Garcia of France and Borna Coric of Croatia each won the 2022 Cincinnati Masters on Sunday according to Matias Grez of CNN. Coric defeated the fourth seed and 2021 French Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 7-6, 6-2 in the final, while Garcia defeated 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-4.
A major reason for the Coric win was the first set tiebreak where he won 7-0. Garcia meanwhile had 11 aces compared to two for Kvitova.
Both victories for Garcia and Coric had historical significance. Garcia became the first qualifier to ever win a WTA 1000 title, while Coric, who is ranked 152nd in the world, was the lowest seeded men’s tennis player ever to win a Masters 1000 series title.
In qualifying, Garcia defeated Diane Perry of France 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and 2014 French Open semifinalist Andrea Petkovic of Germany 6-2, 6-7, 6-2. Then during the Cincinnati Masters, Garcia beat Petra Martic of Croatia 6-3, 6-3 in the first round, two-time grand slam semifinalist Maria Sakkari of Greece 7-6, 6-7, 6-1, in the second round, 2018 Australian Open semifinalist Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-4, 7-5 in the third round, the seventh seed Jessica Pegula of the United States 6-1, 7-5 in the quarterfinals, and two-time grand slam semifinalist Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 in the semifinals. Sakkari reached the semifinals of the 2021 French Open and United States Open, while Sabalenka reached the semifinals of Wimbledon and the United States Open in 2021.
Coric beat Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 7-6, 6-3 in the first round, 22-time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal of Spain 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 in the second round, 2019 Wimbledon semifinalist Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 6-2, 6-3 in the third round, 2021 United States Open semifinalist Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, and 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals.
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