Camila Giorgi of Italy won the fourth Hologic WTA Tour singles title of her career on Sunday night, battling past Swedish qualifier Rebecca Peterson 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-2 at the Merida Open Akron.
Giorgi fought back from 2-0 down in the third set, eventually reeling off the last six games of the match to prevail after 2 hours and 23 minutes and improve to 3-1 lifetime against Peterson.
Fast facts: Giorgi is back in the winner’s circle for the first time since she won the WTA 1000 title at 2021 Montreal. Giorgi’s other titles came at 2015 ‘s-Hertogenbosch and 2018 Linz.
The week marks a rebound in form for former World No.26 Giorgi, who is currently ranked No.68. Prior to this week, Giorgi had not reached a Tour-level quarterfinal since Eastbourne last June.
Giorgi swept to the final this week without the loss of a set, and she then held off former Top 50 player Peterson, who was previously 2-0 in WTA singles finals. Giorgi fired 40 winners to Peterson's 22 in the evening final.
Match moments: In the first set, Giorgi double faulted on break point to give a 4-3 lead to Peterson, but Peterson could not serve out the set at 5-4. Peterson saved a set point at 6-5 with a forehand winner, but Giorgi hit four winners in the tiebreak to lead by a set after 66 minutes.
Peterson, though, won eight of the next nine games, drawing errors from hard-hitting Giorgi, often from the forehand side. Peterson led by a break in the third set at 2-0 after that run of games.
A few words from Camila 🎤✨#MéridaOpenAkron pic.twitter.com/VMQF4IeKJD
— wta (@WTA) February 27, 2023
However, Giorgi provided the final plot twist, slamming big forehands to break Peterson twice consecutively and lead 4-2. A commanding love hold for 5-2 was followed by a third straight break of Peterson’s service, meaning Giorgi swept six games in a row to take the crown.
Doubles final: Earlier on Sunday, Caty McNally and Diane Parry defeated Wang Xinyu and Wu Fang-hsien 6-0, 7-5 in 1 hour and 12 minutes to claim the Merida Open Akron doubles title.
McNally and Parry cruised through the first set, where they won 15 of 16 first-service points and never faced a break point. Wang and Wu made things closer after that, earning the first break of the second set at 4-3, but McNally and Parry reeled off four of the next five games to triumph.
Teaming up for the first time 🤝
— wta (@WTA) February 27, 2023
🇫🇷 @dparry02 and 🇺🇸 @CatyMcNally capture the doubles title in Mérida 💃#MéridaOpenAkron pic.twitter.com/lbeVR5BiHN
McNally continues to excel on the doubles court with her seventh WTA title in that discipline. The 21-year-old American also made the second WTA singles semifinal of her career this week in Merida.
Meanwhile, it is a breakthrough title for 20-year-old Frenchwoman Parry, who captures the crown in the first WTA final of her career.