A teary-eyed Caroline Garcia plays her final French Open match

PARIS (AP) — Caroline Garcia wiped away a tear in the tunnel leading to Court Suzanne-Lenglen on Monday. She brushed it off, smiled, then stepped into the light — for what turned out to be her final singles match at the French Open.

The 31-year-old Frenchwoman, who announced on Friday she will retire later this season, lost in the first round to American Bernarda Pera 6-4, 6-4.

It was Garcia’s 14th consecutive appearance at her home Grand Slam tournament.

After the match, Garcia stayed on court to deliver an emotional speech to a packed Suzanne-Lenglen crowd. She received a standing ovation, with French fans chanting her name for several minutes.

“I tried to fight until the end,” Garcia said, her voice trembling. “Since the start of the season, I knew this would be my last Roland-Garros. I hesitated to say it out loud because I didn’t know how I’d handle the emotions — and this week, the tears have come every single day.”

She thanked the French public, her family, her fiancé, and the sport itself for shaping her identity.

“It’s time to say goodbye,” Garcia had written in a social media post. “After 15 years competing at the highest level, and over 25 years devoting almost every second of my life to this sport, I feel ready to turn the page and open a new chapter.”

Garcia has won 11 WTA titles and captured the WTA Finals crown in 2022, the same year she reached the U.S. Open semifinals. She also won the French Open doubles title in 2016 and climbed as high as No. 4 in the singles rankings in 2018.

Her path hasn’t always been smooth. Injuries, pressure, and a break from the sport in 2022 tested her resolve. That same year, she revealed she had struggled with eating disorders, triggered by the physical pain of a foot injury and the emotional toll of the tour.

Though Garcia bid farewell to Roland-Garros, she said she hopes to play two more majors.

“I would like to go to Wimbledon,” she said. “Depends on my ranking, of course, because I went down. Depends if I get a wild card or not. And then the U.S. Open.”

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

United States' Bernarda Pera returns the ball to France's Caroline Garcia during their first round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Monday, May 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

France's Caroline Garcia reacts as she plays United States' Bernarda Pera during their first round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Monday, May 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Columbus Blue Jackets fired coach Dean Evason and named hockey-lifer Rick Bowness as his replacement on Monday.

Evason is the first NHL coach fired this season. General manager Don Waddell announced the abrupt change with his team sitting in last place in the Eastern Conference 45 games into the season with a record of 19-19-7.

“This season has been a frustrating one for all of us and the bottom line is we are not performing at a level that meets our expectations," Waddell said. "We all share in that responsibility, me included, and while this was not a decision that was made lightly, it is one that needed to be made at this time. Dean did a tremendous job last year under extremely difficult circumstances, and I thank him for that."

Assistant Steve McCarthy, who had been with the organization for nearly a decade, was also fired.

Bowness is back in the league after he retired in the spring of 2024, ending a stint with the Winnipeg Jets. Bowness, who coached Dallas to the Stanley Cup Final in the 2020 pandemic bubble, turns 71 on Jan. 25.

“Rick Bowness is a tremendous coach with invaluable experience and knowledge, and he will bring a steadiness to our team at an important juncture in our season,” Waddell said. “He is a good communicator whose teams play with structure, are sound defensively and we believe he is the right person to bring out the best in our group.”

Bowness during his lengthy career has been head coach for seven different teams, dating to the original Jets in 1988. He did some broadcasting with TNT since stepping away from his most recent job in Winnipeg.

Evason was just past the midway point of his second season in charge of the Blue Jackets. Waddell’s first order of business upon becoming GM was to fire then-coach Pascal Vincent and put Evason behind the bench.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

FILE - Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness yells during the first period of Game 4 of an NHL Stanley Cup first-round playoff series April 28, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Columbus Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason watches his team during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils in Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)