Caroline had made a successful comeback. Leylah had won. We had a perfect day at Central in Montreal. That was until the first game of the night.
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Bianca Andreescu had a lackluster evening while Italy’s Camila Giorgi came on to play and win. Which she managed to do in two sets of 6-3 and 6-2. Giorgi meets world No. 7 and No. 9 Petra Kvitova in the next round.
However, the poster was tempting. We had a confrontation between two current Canadian Open champions.
Andreescu (41st) won in Toronto in 2019 and Giorgi (51st) lifted the trophy in Montreal in 2021.
a boss
Andreescu was still smiling when she appeared before the media, half an hour late.
Without admitting that she experienced a fight below her ability, she mainly emphasized the qualities of her opponent.
“She hits really hard and early. She acts like a boss on the pitch and she was the boss tonight, not me.
“I also experienced frustration and that stuck in my head. I also have a bit of back pain, I don’t know if I’ll play in Cincinnati because the goal is to play the United States Open.
It slips
We had a tense first set but in the sixth game it started to escalate for Andreescu. She came back with an ace at 0:30, saved a break point, but was still busted.
In the next game, she took a 40-0 lead but wasted three break points while Giorgio grabbed five straight points to win the game. Along the way, Andreescu threw his racquet to the ground in a gesture of frustration.
She pulled herself together, but Giorgi won the set thanks to her precision, especially on balls placed deep in the corners, balls that Andreescu often saw go by because it wasn’t worth reaching for.
Andreescu appeared mentally shaken talking to herself afterwards, showing signs of frustration, something she hadn’t done that often lately.
scabby
The truth is that Giorgi remained tenacious throughout the game and never gave up on any rallies, which ultimately got to the mind of Andreescu, who multiplied the unforced errors while his solid serve failed to launch. The game wobbled.
The Italian almost always played to win, which put a lot of pressure on Andreescu, who often reacted.
Giorgi continued his destructive work methodically and aggressively in the second set. As a result, she broke Andreescu’s serve twice in the first three games.
The Mississauga player even sent a ball into the stands in frustration when Giorgi made it 5-1. She didn’t give up, however, and saved two match points in the next game, but the hill was too steep to climb.
Giorgi played his game
Unsurprisingly, Giorgi smiled as she appeared before the media after the game. She was kind to Andreescu.
“I implemented my style of play in a game where all points were close.”
The Italian proved that qualifying is not necessarily a disadvantage.
“After two qualifiers, I felt good on the pitch and could move well. I feel comfortable on this surface and have had three good games so far.”