Wozniacki’s hat-trick hopes dashed
Giorgi does an Italian job on top-seeded Dane's aim of winning a third straight Pan Pacific Open title
Italian Camila Giorgi dashed Caroline Wozniacki's hopes of a winning a third consecutive Pan Pacific Open title with a stunning ambush of the top seed yesterday.
Giorgi, ranked 35 places below Wozniacki at 37th in the world, completed a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 upset in Tokyo to set up a quarter-final with another former No. 1, Victoria Azarenka.
Azarenka thrashed Australia's Ashleigh Barty 6-4, 6-2 as the Belarusian seeks a return to the top echelon of women's tennis after becoming a mum in late 2016.
Giorgi reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals earlier this year and showed exactly why, as she took just 38 minutes to take the first set with some brutal hitting.
The Italian sealed the advantage with a looping forehand that nibbled the back edge of the baseline, wrong-footing Denmark's Wozniacki, who cut a forlorn figure as she trudged back to her seat shaking her head.
Wozniacki hit back to take the second set, the Australian Open champion levelling with a ferocious backhand that forced Giorgi into a wild shot.
I'll just try to focus on my game plan as always and hope to play very consistently, like today Camila Giorgi, about her strategy against Victoria Azarenka in today's quarter-finals
But Giorgi dug in and broke for 4-3 in the decider with another murderous forehand, before delivering the coup de grace in a little over two hours with a fizzing backhand that Wozniacki could only waft into the net.
"It was a good match, nice court, it was fun," said Giorgi, who will hope for more of the same against Azarenka today. "I'll just try to focus on my game plan as always and hope to play very consistently, like today."
Azarenka, who has tumbled down the rankings following a lengthy custody battle over baby Leo, will be the fresher of the two players.
Currently ranked 63rd and competing as a wildcard, she clinched the opening set with a thumping pass that was too hot for Barty.
Azarenka raced to a 4-1 lead in the second and closed out proceedings by jamming up Barty with a vicious kick serve into the rib cage on her second match point.
Czech Barbora Strycova won a tempestuous encounter with Estonian Anett Kontaveit 7-6, 3-6, 7-5 and next faces Japan's US Open champion Naomi Osaka.
Eighth seed Strycova took the first-set tiebreak 7-5 but both players screamed in frustration at their wastefulness in a contest lasting well over three hours.
In another match, Croat Donna Vekic beat Britain's Johanna Konta 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the last eight, where she faces second seed Caroline Garcia of France. - AFP
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