Giorgi dedicates Montreal title to dad
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Camila Giorgi completing a 2021 hat-trick of victories over fourth seed Karolina Pliskova to win the Montreal Open and, in doing so, she becomes the first Italian winner of the prestigious US Open tune-up.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
MONTREAL • Italian underdog Camila Giorgi upset fourth seed Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 7-5 on Sunday to win the biggest title of her career at the WTA hard-court event in Montreal.
The world No. 71 completed a 2021 hat-trick of victories over the sixth-ranked Czech, who has now lost three finals this season.
"I was very emotional inside. Of course, I'm not the one that shows a lot. It's just amazing. I'm very happy for what I did this week," Giorgi said.
Wimbledon finalist and Rome runner-up Pliskova had no answer for the inspired shotmaking of Giorgi, who also defeated the Czech in the first round at Eastbourne and in the third round at the Tokyo Olympics.
Pliskova had won 12 of her past 14 matches coming into the final, which lasted 1 hour 40 minutes.
But Giorgi's seven aces and four service breaks, were enough to again overcome the Czech, who remained impressed with her opponent's top form.
"She played super solid all week actually, not crazy like she can play sometimes," Pliskova said.
"She played really well, serving well at the important moments... she was just a bit better today."
The first Italian winner of the prestigious US Open tune-up now owns three career titles after winning in Linz in 2018 and in the Netherlands three years earlier.
Giorgi is expected to climb into the top 35 in the world rankings for the first time since May 2019, as a result of her victory.
The Italian, whose stylist mother designs her tennis wear, retains a close bond with her father-coach, who was not in Canada this week for his 29-year-old daughter's biggest moment on court.
"I've been working all my life with my father, we work hours and hours on the court," Giorgi said.
"Of course, the results should come. I believe it and he believe it.
"This was an amazing week, I'm very happy to have this gift. I dedicate it to him. When you dedicate all your work, one day comes beautiful things."
In Toronto, Daniil Medvedev neutralised the attack of American serving giant Reilly Opelka on Sunday, dominating 6-4, 6-3 to win the ATP Toronto Masters.
The Russian world No. 2 needed just 85 minutes, limiting his 2.11m opponent to just eight aces and breaking him three times while saving all four break points he faced.
Medvedev, aided by 34 unforced errors from Opelka, became the first Russian to win a Canadian trophy since Marat Safin 21 years ago.
The winner was playing a fifth career final at the Masters 1000 level.
"When I was starting I could barely have dreamt of a Masters final. Now I've played five of them and won four. I'm just happy. I want to achieve more, I want to play better," he said.
Medvedev, who will be the top seed at this week's Cincinnati Masters, the final major tune-up for the US Open that starts on Aug 30, had praise for Opelka, the US No. 1 who is ranked 23rd in the world.
"It was a great week for him, he fought to the end," Medvedev said.
"Playing a first Masters final is never easy. My first was in Canada (Montreal, 2019) and I won just three games," he recalled of a title tilt against Rafael Nadal.
Opelka said he was outplayed from the start by the top seed.
"Daniil played great, as expected. He was flawless. I had one chance to break early and I don't think that would have changed much.
"It was a little windy, so it was really tough to be consistently powerful. Even when I hit some big shots, he countered well. It was very tough to disrupt him at all."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
