MONTREAL – Camila Giorgi upset fourth-seeded Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 7-5 to win the National Bank Open title in Montreal.
The 29-year-old Italian won her biggest title by claiming the WTA 1000-level crown, just the third such title of her career.
The WTA 1000 trophy is the third of Giorgi’s career, first since 2018, first above 250 level and first on outdoor hard courts.
Giorgi recorded seven aces and overcame six double faults. She won 71.4 percent of her first-serve points and 55.6 per cent of her second-serve points.
Giorgi had 16 winners against 27 unforced errors.
It also marks the third time Giorgi beat Pliskova in the past two months. One of the victories was during the Tokyo Olympics.
“We’ve had several matches this year and you are just a better player, I hope,” Pliskova said during the trophy presentation.
“You had a very good tournament beating good players and you definitely deserve the title.”
Pliskova carded four aces and had six double faults. The Czech Republic native had 13 winners and committed 34 unforced errors.
Among the players Giorgi beat in Montreal were Pliskova, seventh-seeded Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic, Belgian No. 9 seed Elise Mertens and 15th-seeded Coco Gauff. She defeated Jessica Pegula in the semifinals.
The past two months have seen Giorgi turn her head-to-head against the Czech around in emphatic fashion.
She stunned Pliskova 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round of Eastbourne in June, and backed that up with a 6-4, 6-2 dismissal in the third round of the Tokyo Olympic Games. Here, she meted out Pliskova’s third final defeat of 2021, following losses in Rome to Iga Swiatek and at Wimbledon to Ashleigh Barty.
World No.71 Giorgi upset four seeded players – No.9 Elise Mertens, No.7 Petra Kvitova and No.15 Coco Gauff as well as Pliskova en route to becoming the lowest-ranked champion in Canada since No.80-ranked Serena Williams took the title in 2011. Giorgi dropped just one set across the week, to Jessica Pegula in the semi-finals.
In both of Pliskova’s previous finals this year, she was undone by slow starts. But the opening stages of the Montreal title match were solid and tightly contested through the first six games.
Both players were striking the ball cleanly, but winning points through a combination of power and margin rather than low-percentage placement.
Both would extricate themselves from the first break-point danger they faced, with Giorgi pulling off a stellar get to do so, and at 3-3 she struck.
Using deep forehand returns at Pliskova’s feet to superb effect, she broke the former World No.1’s serve after a mighty five-deuce tussle. From there, Giorgi rolled to the end of the set, with Pliskova dropping serve in somewhat tame fashion with a double fault and wide forehand in its final game.
Another pair of double faults and netted groundstrokes from Pliskova gifted Giorgi a 3-1 lead in the second set – but an uncharacteristic tossed racquet from the former World No.26 was a sign that there could be more plot twists to come. Sure enough, consecutive double faults from Giorgi in the next game handed the break straight back.
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