TOKYO: Italian Camila Giorgi dashed Caroline Wozniacki’s hopes of a winning a third consecutive Pan Pacific Open title with a stunning ambush of the top seed on Thursday night. Wozniacki hit back to take the second set, the Australian Open champion levelling with a ferocious backhand that forced Giorgi into a wild shot. Azarenka raced to a 4-1 lead in the second and closed out proceedings by jamming up Barty with a vicious kick serve into the ribcage on her second match point. Eighth seed Strycova took the first-set tiebreak 7-5 but both players screamed in frustration at their wastefulness in a contest that lasted well over three hours. Elsewhere, Croatian Donna Vekic beat Britain’s Johanna Konta 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the last eight, where she faces second seed Caroline Garcia of France.

Source: Manila Times September 21, 2018 16:30 UTC