By Adrianna Outlaw | Sunday, June 13, 2015
Camila Giorgi cracked eight aces and did not face a break point beating Belinda Bencic, 7-5, 6-3, to claim her first career title at the Topshelf Open.
Photo credit: Christopher Levy
Camila Giorgi played a first-rate final to claim her first WTA title at the Topshelf Open.
Giorgi cracked eight aces and did not face a break point beating Belinda Bencic, 7-5, 6-3, in the 's-Hertogenbosch final today.
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The 35th-ranked Giorgi converted the only break point of the first set to take the opener. Giorgi cashed in on the lone break point of the second set for a 5-3 advantage.
The fifth-seeded Italian took the court with an 0-3 career record in finals, including a 6-4, 6-3, defeat to 67th-ranked Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the Katowice final on hard court in April. That loss came after Giorgi swept world No. 9 Agnieszka Radwanska, on her home soil in the semifinals.
Bencic and Giorgi each saved three match points in rousing three-set quarterfinal victories on Friday. Giorgi overcame 23 double faults defeating Yaroslava Shvedova, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9), to reach her first WTA semifinal since Katowice. Fighting back from a break down in both the second and third sets, the Italian staved off all three match points in the decisive tie break — at 6-7, at 7-8 andthe third match point at 8-9 — winning the final three points to end a wild two hour and 27-minute adventure.
The fourth-seeded Bencic defeated No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic, 6-3, 6-3, in Saturday's semifinals to reach her second final.
After the double fault issues in the quarterfinals, Giorgi located her serve and used it effectively in her title run. The world No. 35 did not drop serve in her final two matches, defeating Dutch No. 1 Kiki Bertens in the semifinals before topping Bencic.
Playing first-strike tennis, Giorgi was not threatened on her serve.
Despite serving just 35 percent in the second set, Giorgi won nine of 10 points played on her first serve and 12 of 18 points on her second serve in the set. She closed her first WTA championship in one hour, 24 minutes.