It had been a good day at the office for Camila Giorgi, who played an aggressive tennis for an hour and five minutes to overpower Wang Qiang and reach the first semifinal of her season at Shenzhen open. The Italian took an early control of the match and didn’t drop it until the very end, saving five out of six break points and leaving only two games to her opponent. The Chinese, who had previously defeated seventh seed Monica Niculescu in the second round, had still matched the quarterfinal reached last year, where she fell only to eventual champion Agnieszka Radwanska.
Giorgi dominates and books the first set
The early part of the match had been in total control from the Italian, who conceded little or zero chances to her opponent to stop her winning streak. She started with an aggressive game since the beginning, hitting hard on both his service and return games too often force Wang to a difficult all-court defense.
The Chinese tried to react as she started the fourth game, but ended up losing her serve again in front of her opponent’s fast and powerful shots.
Giorgi didn’t drop her opponent any chance to win a game until the fifth one, in which the Chinese had three chances to break, but the Italian saved them all with three well-placed winners; in the end, an error from Wang allowed her to consolidate her advantage. There hadn't been much more the Chinese could do to stop the dominance of the Italian in this first set, and Giorgi broke her again to win it six games to love.
Wang attempts a comeback, Giorgi reacts to claim the match
Giorgi’s winning streak continued as the second set started, with the Italian easily holding to 15, scoring important points with the backhand down the line, a shot that helped her many times throughout all the match.
She then got two chances to break and take the lead, but Wang saved them both and hit an ace and a powerful first serve to eventually hold and win her first game of the match.
The momentum seemed to switch in the Chinese’s favor; in another battled game on her serve, the Italian saved two break points, but then wasted two important chances to hold. Eventually, a backhand error signed the break for Wang, who took the lead for the first time.
Giorgi bounced back in the game and started to play aggressively again on returns, opening the court to close out points at the net and immediately breaking back.
From then on, the Italian regained full control of the match, as she already did during the first set. She rallied back from 0-30 down on her serve to hold, and then broke the Chinese again, finding two well placed passing shots and then a winner from the net.
Wang still struggled to adjust to her opponent’s aggressive game, and Giorgi held to go 5-2 up.
The final game confirmed the struggle. The Chinese saved a match point, but the second one had been crucial for her. Her backhand is called out and Wang didn’t challenge the ambiguous call, eventually giving Giorgi the win with a clear 6-0, 6-2 scoreline.
The Italian will need to defeat Alison Riske - who had edged out defending champion Radwanska in the quarterfinals - to reach her sixth career final. They have already met two times in career, with Giorgi winning in Dothan in 2012, and Riske prevailing at Wimbledon Championships in 2014.