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Garcia, who capped an impressive second half of the 2022 season
by winning the WTA Tour title, told L'Equipe she had turned to
food to "fill a void" when things were not going her way on
court, prompting an outpouring of support from the tennis
community.
"I think if I did know it was going that much, maybe I would not
have said it," said the 29-year-old, who plays Canada's
Katherine Sebov in the Australian Open first round on Tuesday.
"After, when I saw how much it went all around the tennis world,
I was feeling a little bit uncomfortable with it.
"I don't regret saying it. It's what happened. I'm not ashamed
about it.
"I think it's happening to a lot of athletes and a lot of also
regular people because we are still human and we go through a
lot of emotion."
Garcia took a break from tennis in March last year to undergo
ankle surgery and returned in fine form, winning in Cincinnati,
Bad Homburg and Warsaw while also reaching the semi-final of the
U.S. Open.
She takes on Sebov hoping to quickly hit her stride as she sets
her sights on a first Grand Slam title.
"I think what is tough is we don't have a lot of rhythm," she
said. "The Slam is coming very fast after the off-season, so you
didn't play.
"You can play tournaments, but if you go all the way, of course,
you have a lot of matches. So far I didn't get a lot of rhythm
on court, not as many wins as I wanted to give me all the
confidence I need."
(Reporting by Michael Church in Hong Kong, Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
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