The first time a player steps on to the hallowed turf of the All England Club it tends to be a memorable experience.

For rising French prospect Caroline Garcia, in 2013 however, it was simply "weird".

“It was going so fast, I couldn’t move, I was not safe at all, it still happens now,” Garcia said after she clinched her first grass court title at the inaugural Mallorca Open.

“I would never have believed I have won a WTA tournament on the grass. But it’s a good feeling. Playing on grass is part of the history.”

The 22-year-old’s 6-3, 6-4 win over Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia in the final earned her a top 32 ranking, meaning she’ll be seeded for Wimbledon, which starts next week.

With a 3-3 record from three appearances in the main Wimbledon draw, the transition from clay to grass has caused her problems in the past but now Garcia says she is finding things easier, even if she is keeping a cool head.

“The last three or four times I was seeded, I lost first round each time,” she said. “You just have to stay very humble and play your match.”

Until now, Garcia was perhaps best known for a bravura performance against Maria Sharapova in the second round of the French Open in 2011, when she led the former world No.1 by a set and 4-1 before going down in three sets.

Andy Murray was so impressed with her shot-making, he wrote on Twitter during the match that Garcia “is going to be No.1 in the world one day.”

Garcia’s Fed Cup captain and former Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo is equally impressed by the youngster, who played a pivotal role in helping France reach the final of the elite women’s team competition against the Czech Republic, alongside her doubles partner Kristina Mladenovic.

“For me, it’s always hard to say No.1, but definitely top 10 potential,” Mauresmo said during France’s 4-1 Fed Cup first round over Italy in February. “She can play some great tennis, she’s a good athlete as well so a lot of positive things and a lot of weapons.”

Until a month ago, Garcia was having a topsy-turvy season, excelling on Fed Cup duty but losing in the first round six times. Everything changed on the clay of Strasbourg, where she won the second title of her career and then went on to clinch her first Grand Slam doubles title with Mladenovic at the French Open two weeks later.

Garcia couldn’t really point to a specific reason for turning her season round, putting it down to “hard work and good practice" and believes her Roland Garros victory also helped in Mallorca.

“To win a doubles title “We go there with the motivation to win,” Garcia said. “But every match is difficult. It will be our first match together on grass without practice and grass can change very fast because there is not too much rallying.

"We have to be very careful, like we did in the French Open, take it match by match and just play our game the best we can and we see what can happen.”