Belinda Bencic showed respect for Camila Giorgi following their Australian Open match as the Swiss described the Italian as “a very explosive player” who can do a lot of damage.
Bencic, seeded at No 12, defeated former world No 26 Giorgi 6-2 7-5 to progress into the Australian Open round-of-16.
“I’m happy with the win. Of course [Giorgi is] a very explosive player. She has a lot of power when she hits the ball. It’s not easy, of course, to play against her, but I think I was mentally ready for that. Even though she broke me back after [leading 5-4], I just tried to keep doing the same thing, and I’m happy I served it out in the second chance,” Bencic said after the match, per the WTA website.
Bencic escaped with a straight-set win over Giorgi
The first break of the match was seen in the third game, when Bencic broke Giorgi for a 2-1 lead.
A few games later, Bencic broke Giorgi for the second time to open a 5-2 lead before serving out for the first set in the following game.
After easily winning the first set, Bencic also broke Giorgi in the very first game of the second set.
Down by a set and a break, Giorgi claimed her first break of the match in the second game to tie the set to one game apiece.
But Giorgi’s struggles on her serve continues as Bencic broke the Italian again in the third game to take a 2-1 lead.
In the seventh game, Bencic missed out on two break points for a lead of double break but also saved two break points in the eighth game to open a 5-3 lead.
In the 10th game – when Bencic was serving for the match – Giorgi broke back to tie the set to five games apiece.
However, failing to serve out for the match didn’t impact Bencic, who broke Giorgi again in the 11th game for a 6-5 lead before serving out for the match in the next game.
Bencic plays next against Aryna Sabalenka.
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