Elina Svitolina’s weakness on grass became more apparent than ever at the AEGON Classic in Birmingham Thursday. The fight from Italy’s Camila Giorgi took its toll on the top seed that sent her packing in the second round with a 4-6, 6-4, 2-6 defeat on Ann Jones Centre Court.
The two haven’t faced off in nearly three years making it an important moment for the Italian. She found herself coming into the second round with a four-match winning streak that began in qualifications. The 25-year-old got through her opening round match with another straight sets win making it eight in a row without dropping one. The winner of Hertogenbosch from 2015 has her eyes set on making a knockout happen if the opportunity arises. Svitolina had a tough start after being off the tour for two weeks. With a good hold against Heather Watson, the world number five hoped to have an easier opposition.
The match began with Svitolina breaking the Italian in the opening game that soon followed with a double break back from Giorgi. The pace was obviously set for the second seed as she dealt with the pressure on Giorgi’s service and notched another break for herself. Svitolina’s service hold changed the pace that allowed her to carry a short winning streak before it came to a quick close in the fifth. Giorgi’s hold on the ball allowed her to keep within reach of the Ukrainian knowing well of her tactics.
The Italian was intent on keeping the momentum for herself with another tie in the set and did so in the fourth; playing in front of the return during the rallies that beat Svitolina. With the lead in hand, Svitolina called coach Andrew Bettles came out to keep her self-esteem high and accept the fact of her opponent’s difficulty. She answered with an important hold in the eighth but a tug of war in the ninth determined possession of control and a game from the set.
For Giorgi, she had just enough defense in the rallies to hold her own against Svitolina to win the second break on deuce and carry leverage. It was well shown from the 25-year-old as she forced the second seed into pressure and won the set 6-4 in 42 minutes. Her turnaround from unforced errors to winners was her show of individual success that no doubt included her strengths against a tough opponent. A quick visit from her father and coach Sergio Giorgi to tell her how well she has been so far and to keep up the pace.
With her down a set, Svitolina did everything to avoid Giorgi from continuing her recent run of dominating and put the foot on the gas herself. The 22-year-old fired off a break to start followed by an important serve to make known of her intentions. She was good on her word to be the stronger player going on nailing down a second break of the Italian to maintain a solid lead. The fourth was Giorgi’s first big push in the set trying to get a grip on the set by any means. She forced deuce with Svitolina that extended the game to be the longest so far. After seven and a quarter minutes, the Ukrainian held for a fourth time.
The Italian put together a great show of force in the fifth but saw it nearly erased by the second seed. Her forehand errors nearly gave Svitolina the chance for the break but Giorgi somehow held to get her own skills to earn her the win. Svitolina returned to serve in the sixth and despite the troubles on both ends of her game, she found her way to the advantage on deuce and reach a chance for the set and level footing in the match. Giorgi had a new agenda in mind and put her strategy to work with two game wins that blocked Svitolina from dictating on serve. The offense that the Italian had brought together not only served its purpose but also brightened the chance to pull off an upset with her current pace. She picked up her third game with a love service hold that helped her get within reach of tying the set.
Giorgi wasn’t nothing short of a serious threat to Svitolina as she pulled off a three-game winning streak to threaten in the tenth. The fight ensued with key mistakes from both that had them close to victory but slipped at the wrong point. In the end, it was Svitolina who somehow avoided further onslaught from the 25-year-old and capture the set in 47 minutes. While the Italian was a clear threat for the second seed, her problems came on winning break points where she had seven chances but only managed to score one.
The momentum she created was more than enough to stay competitive and did so with a break of Svitolina in the second game of the decider. It was at that point that the 25-year-old took off and created a commanding 4-1 lead putting Svitolina in danger of exiting early. The world number five had the lead in the sixth but three double faults in the game saw her downfall overshadow the good parts of her game. She came out of the troubles and held after two breaks on deuce to cut Giorgi’s lead in half.
The win for Svitolina didn’t bother her much as she took another step to reach 5-2 and get her chance to play for the match and an upset at the same time. Her push of Svitolina on serve allowed her to climb back on the score and show strong force to win the break and end the tournament for the top seed. It was a two hour and two-minute day for the players but with the Italian’s comfort on grass and fight for control, she earned the win in spades to start the day. “Today was a great match,” said Giorgi after the match. “I played well and It was a very good level.” When asked about her time on court to come into the match against Svitolina, Giorgi had a good response in mind. “It’s really important to play as much as possible so it’s very good that that helps a lot.”
She’ll get more time to play as she faces Ashleigh Barty in the quarterfinals Friday in what she hopes will be an even match with her ability to keep her personal pace alive.
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