When Camila Giorgi is on fire, you could say that she is close to unstoppable. The Italian is famous for her aggressive playing style and seeing her on the defence is quite a rare sight throughout her career. And at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz this week, the fans were treated to an attacking masterclass by the world number 32 as she defeated WTA final debutante Ekaterina Alexandrova, who got past the qualifying rounds and mounted an unbelievable run to her maiden tour final.
It was a relatively straightforward final for Giorgi, who strolled to the comfortable 6-3, 6-1 win within just 59 minutes of play without facing a break point — conceding just nine points on serve throughout the entire match. She broke serve on four different occasions, winning 74 percent of second serve return points which allowed her to dominate play and control the proceedings.
With this stunning triumph, Giorgi will rise to a career-high ranking of 28, and will most likely be seeded at the 2019 Australian Open. The Italian is also in action at the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open, where she will face local favourite, the veteran Mandy Minella, in the opening round. Alexandrova’s run to her first WTA final from the qualifying rounds will witness her ascend back into the top-100 of the rankings, finding herself at the 87th spot on Monday when the new rankings are released.
Giorgi snatches the lone break for the first set win
Solid serving and some impressive hitting from Giorgi allowed her to grab the opening service hold within a blink of an eye. Losing just one set throughout the week, Giorgi carried the momentum into the final and never seemed to let loose on her serve. Whereas the hard-hitting Alexandrova was forced to play some counter-punching tennis as her opponent was being too aggressive, and she had no chance to take the initiative to dictate the points.
The pair remained on serve through the first seven games, though both Alexandrova and Giorgi were taken to deuce in one of their service games, they managed to survive the nervy moments. However, it was the Russian who blinked first. Failing to find her first serves, Alexandrova was in deep trouble as she conceded the first break point of the match, and that was just all Giorgi needed to claim the opening set 6-3 ultimately.
Alexandrova’s second serve win percentage of 27 proved to be costly, and it was a drastic contrast to Giorgi’s 60. The Italian exploited her vulnerable second serves and went all out to punish those shots, eventually helping her to claim the first set in comfortable fashion.
Giorgi rushes to the title
A costly backhand error on game point from Alexandrova proved to be fatal as the Russian underdog was broken in the opening game of the second set. That break was decisive as Giorgi completely went on a rampage while Alexandrova totally lost the plot. She was out-of-sorts and the Italian was firing winner after winner like no one’s business.
A bagel victory looked highly plausible, but Alexandrova showed some fighting spirit when she impressively saved two break points while serving at 0-4, including one with an amazing backhand down-the-line winner. However, that was not enough to halt Giorgi’s momentum and she eventually served her way to the victory and the title after just 59 minutes of play.
