Italian tennis player Camila Giorgi qualified for the second round of the WTA 1000 Miami Open after defeating Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) by 2-1 (7:6, 6:7, 7:6) in a match that lasted more than three hours and a half.
The first set started perfectly for the Italian player, who broke the serve of her opponent in the beginning and led by 3:0. She had also three breakpoints in the 4th game of the set, but finally Kaia Kanepi saved them and won her first game in the match. The Estonian player returned the break in the 9th game and thus the set went into a tiebreak, which Camila Giorgi won by 7-4, turning it over from 0-3.
The second set was as dramatic as the first one. Camila Giorgi made a break at the very beginning of the set, but Kaia Kanepi returned it in the 8th game and even had a set point in the 12th game. Finally, the set went into a tiebreak, which Kaia Kanepi won by 7-4.
Camila Giorgi entered the third set with power. She started playing aggressively and attacked her opponent, who was obviously tired. The Italian took a lead of 5:0 with two breaks and everything was expected to finish quickly. However, Kaia Kanepi succeeded to equalize to 5:5 and turned the set again into a tiebreak, which Camila Giorgi eventually won by 7-4.
Thus, Camila Giorgi qualified for the second round of the WTA 1000 Miami Open, where will face 14th-seeded Victoria Azarenka (Belarus).
In the other matches from the first round of the Masters’ tournament, Elise Mertens (Belgium) defeated Alycia Parks (USA) by 2-0 (6:1, 6:4), while Mirjam Bjorklund (Sweden) eliminated Jasmine Paolini (Italy) by 2-1 (4:6, 6:4, 6:4).
Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine) also advanced to the second round after a victory versus Elisabetta Cocciaretto (Italy) by 2-0 (6:3, 6:2).
Rebecca Marino (Canada) eliminated Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan) by 2-0 (7:6, 6:2), while Linda Fruhvirtova (Czech Republic) lost to Katherine Sebov (Canada) by 1-2 (2:6, 6:4, 4:6).
