Garcia turns the tables
Garcia had not said his last word, however. Undeterred, the Frenchwoman continued to play her game. She hit harder and harder and kept better and better at the pace imposed by Giorgi. Garcia made the effort to save two break points at 3-2 and win a hotly contested game to come back to 3-3. We saw much more intensity in his strikes and the support of the spectators, not stingy with encouragement, could make the difference. This intervened with a break to lead 5-4 and quickly confirmed to equalize at a set everywhere.
Garcia was refreshed, Giorgi was stunned. Despite a momentarily disordered ball throw, Garcia held his serve and broke away to lead 2-0. She was the boss on the court. Giorgi was picking up speed, now more in control of the pace. And as the Italian is not the type to question her way of playing, she locked herself in a game where the faults quickly exceeded the winning points. But it was indeed Garcia who knew how to turn the match to his advantage.
After beating the No. 1 seed, Garcia opened up the picture a bit. She will be up against another Italian for a place in the quarterfinals: either Elisabetta Cocciaretto or Martina Trevisan.
