Caroline Wozniacki knows her way around Eastbourne—she won the title in 2009 and relaxes by running various routes along the sea. Today, Wozniacki used her sharp sense of re-direction and strong finishing kick to rally past Camila Giorgi, 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-2.
It was an entertaining match featuring crackling rallies, spirited comebacks, both women chirping at chair umpire Alison Hughes after overrules, and a sudden suspension of play for several minutes as medical staff attended to a fan who fell ill in the stands.
The medical time-out came with Giorgi leading 4-3 in second set. When play resumed, the lithe Italian, so light on her feet it sounds like she was playing in ballet slippers, glided to net and dipped a backhand volley for break point. Wozniacki whipped a second serve into the body, jamming Giorgi to deny the break, and eventually held with a forehand winner. Giorgi hits harder, but Wozniacki plays cleaner.
Wozniacki won six of the next seven games after play resumed to take charge. The flashy Giorgi hit more than twice as many winners (47 to 22), but committed three times as many errors (42 to 14) than the steady Dane.
Giorgi, a fine volleyer who was 26 of 33 at net, has all-court skills, but dumbs down her game trying to strong-arm her way through problems with one blast. She stubbornly refused to alter her aggressive return position, crouching a few feet inside the baseline to return Wozniacki's second serve. The eighth seed made her pay for that predictibility, shrewdly banging the body serve on crucial points, in saving seven of eight break points.
Wozniacki was also resourceful from the baseline—she used a lob-drop volley combination to break for 5-4 in the second set—served 78 percent, and won 77 percent of her second serve points in avenging a 2013 U.S. Open loss.
