(Montreal) Quebec tennis fans will have the opportunity to see Camila Giorgi in person, the defending champion of the National Bank Open presented in Montreal in 2021.
The 31-year-old Italian earned her bye to the 2023 Women’s Singles Main Draw after beating American Ashlyn Krueger 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the second qualifying round on Sunday.
Two years ago and then generally unknown to the Montreal public, Giorgi showed up at the IGA stadium — transformed into a bubble because of COVID-19 — and surprised all observers by defeating Karolina Pliskova in straight sets in the grand finale.
This triumph, the first of his career at a WTA 1000 tournament, had allowed him to make a giant leap of 38 positions in the world ranking, from 71st to 33rd place.
A year later, a third-round elimination at the Toronto edition of the National Bank Open dropped him to 66th place.
Now 51st, Giorgi defeated Krueger on Sunday despite struggling on serve.
She had eight aces but nine double faults, put only 53% of her first serves in play and faced 11 break points. She saved eight of those 11 break chances, though, and netted five in eight opportunities.
It won’t get her into the main draw at the National Bank Open starting Monday, but young Canadian Marina Stakusic can take comfort: she put up much better resistance to Alycia Parks on Saturday than the 84th-ranked player in the world. Sunday.
Parks, a 22-year-old American ranked 48th in the world, became the first player to qualify for the tournament’s main draw with a convincing 6-1, 6-2 win over Spain’s Cristina Bucsa.
Helped by a tally of nine aces, Parks needed just 57 minutes to eliminate Bucsa. By way of comparison, the American had to fight for three sets and 2 hours 43 minutes to overcome the 18-year-old Ontarian the day before.
Parks didn’t necessarily help his cause on Saturday with his 17 double faults. She did much better in this area on Sunday, committing only six, including only one in the second set.
Parks won 91% of his points after placing his first serve in play and had five service breaks in seven chances.
In another match on Sunday, qualifying favorite Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine defeated American Elizabeth Mandlik 6-4, 6-2.
