Linz has seen plenty of upsets this week with just one seed, Karolina Pliskova contesting the quarter-finals on Friday.  Here are the thoughts of Adam Wells, who watched the second match of the day in Linz featuring Camila Giorgi and Marina Erakovic.

Camila Giorgi continued her fine form this week as she looks to capitalise on a decimated draw in Linz. Having made light work of Petkovic and Jabeur in rounds 1 and 2, she was the favourite going into this, but, after wiping the floor with Zakopalova in her previous match, an on-song Erakovic was a potentially hazardous obstacle.

Its garish pink colouring aside, Erakovic seemed to have embraced local culture by sporting a traditional Austrian outfit, her dress, in stark contrast with Giorgi’s miniskirt, looking more than a little like a dirndl. Whether this bold fashion choice would get the crowd on-side remained to be seen.

She served first, and the first game was a sign of all that was come. Giorgi fired wide, Giorgi fired long, Giorgi hit a winner, Giorgi hit the net. Erakovic held, having done little more than serve then wait and see what Giorgi does. When she made it 1-1 with a mixture of unreturned serves, vicious winners, unforced errors and a double fault, it was obvious, if it wasn’t before, that the match was on her racket.

She broke at the second attempt. She slapped her first return long, her second even harder past Erakovic, telling anyone who didn’t known, there’s no middle ground with her groundstrokes, A double fault and an error from Erakovic led to the first break of the match.

Sitting down at the changeover, ever the bundle of energy, Giorgi’s legs were motoring away. And she motored through the rest of the set. Her first serve was working well and she was hitting big and clean off both wings. She missed the odd shot, she always does, but the misses didn’t phase her. There was a sense that Erakovic was slightly outmatched in every department, and would struggle to compete unless Giorgi’s level dropped. As tactics go, hoping that happens isn’t the most proactive, but Erakovic did well to stay in touch and make Giorgi sustain her level take the set. There was one point at 3-2 that illustrated what Erakovic could be doing differently, where she really dictated for the first time, getting the first strike in and staying on top until she put the point to bed. But moments like these were few and far between.

Having won the first set 6-3, the diminutive Italian served first in the second. She bossed the opening game, dictating with her forehand on the first point, hitting an unreturned serve on the second, an ace on the third and SERVE VOLLEYING on the fourth! That surprise aside, it looked like more of the same was coming our way.

Things turned a little wilder in the next game, the unforced errors from Giorgi starting to outnumber the winners. Erakovic held easily, having, once again, done little more than hit a serve then see what happens next. The unforced errors kept coming in the next game, and Erakvovic was handed a surprise 3-1 lead, her passive “wait and see” tactics looking smarter by the second. There was no chance of Giorgi changing hers though;  she still went hell for leather after every ball she could. Having called her dad on at 2-3 down for a pep talk as fierce as her forehand, Giorgi started hitting form again. She nearly broke straight away, Erakovic finding a sensational backhand down the line to deny her. With Giorgi’s little blip behind her, Erakovic was outmatched from the back of the court once more, and needed to give Giorgi something different to look at.

She didn’t.

Having said that, she so nearly had 40-0 on her own serve at 5-4. On one of the rare occasions she was pushed around the court, Giorgi defended brilliantly, then played her most delicate winner yet, a perfect passing shot that dipped just over the net and down the line. Erakovic’s first serve percentage had dropped and she was just caressing her second in. Giorgi jumped all over it. She powered her way to the the all important break back, and there was only one outcome from there on out. She was at her aggressive best in the last two games, and only lost one more point.

It finished 6-3, 7-5, another impressive straight sets win for Giorgi, and a slightly disappointing end to Erakovic’s promising week. She didn’t play badly by any means, but she just didn’t do enough. When she’s in this sort of form, you can’t trade with Giorgi from the baseline and hope to come out on top. She was hoping for help from the other side of the net, and she came close to taking things to a third set because Giorgi’s level did briefly drop, but with a draw that’s now begging for an underdog to storm it, you have to show a bit more ambition than that.

Post written by Adam Wells