Caroline Garcia’s Ball Girl Mix-up Leads to On-Court Confusion

PARIS, France — Caroline Garcia, the 2022 champion, faced an unexpected communication hurdle during her first-round match at the tennis tournament on Friday. The conflict arose while she was playing against British opponent Sonia Kartal.

During a side-change in the second set, Garcia asked a ball girl to deliver a message to her team, requesting gut string for her racquet. However, what followed was a series of misunderstandings.

The ball girl relayed Garcia’s request to her team, but they misinterpreted it entirely. To clarify, they began mimicking eating yogurt, which left Garcia puzzled when the girl returned with another question: “Did you say yogurt?”

With a laugh, Garcia gestured towards her racquet to clarify her original request. The mix-up caused a brief pause, but once the confusion was resolved, the match resumed with Garcia eventually winning in three sets: 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

The native of Saint-Germain-en-Laye will next face Karolina Muchova, currently ranked 14th in the world, on Monday — a challenging opponent in the tournament.