Home Depot Center News

By Steve Pratt

CARSON, Calif., (Sunday, May 29, 2011) - Playing with extreme confidence and absolutely no fear on every baseline groundstroke she hit, Itlay's Camila Giorgi captured the Carson USTA Women's $50,000 Challenger on Sunday with a 7-6 (4), 6-1 win over No. 2 seeded American Alexa Glatch on Sunday at The Home Depot Center.

It was just two weeks ago in the quarterfinals at the Raleigh $50,000 Challenger where Giorgi survived two match points on her way to a clay-court win over Glatch and a finals appearance there.

On Sunday, it was one step further and a new career-high WTA world ranking for the 19-year-old Miami resident who on Monday should be around No. 175.

\"It's tough to play her when she's on,\" said Glatch of Newport Beach, a Carson finalist for the second time in four years. \"There's only one gear for her. I was just scrambling trying to make her play an extra ball and with the windy conditions it was tough to keep the ball up.

\"She really goes for her shots and doesn't make many errors so I was trying to slow down the pace and hit slice and throw some different looks at her. I didn't want to bang with her because that's what she likes to do.\"

How hot is Giorgi's game at the moment? On Saturday in the semifinals, she tore through No. 3 seeded American Ashley Weinhold without dropping a game. Weinhold actually beat Giorgi back in November in the first round at the Grapevine, Texas, $50,000 event, 6-4, 6-3.

For Giorgi, it was the second $50,000 level event she's won having captured Toronto in 2009. She lost in the Raleigh final two weeks ago to Slovenia's Petra Rampre.

\"I'm not surprised at the results because I have been playing good,\" said Giorgi, a native of Macerata, Italy, who is coached and trained by her father Sergio who was on hand all week. \"She wanted to slow down the game but I figured out how to play her in the second set.\"

Glatch found herself coming back most of the first set and at 4-2 rallied with a nice hold and a break for 4-4, 15-40 on Giorgi's serve. But Giorgi played two big points to get it to deuce and then closed out a long game to prevent Glatch from serving for the match.

\"I had my chances at 4-4 definitely,\" Glatch said. \"I wasn't able to do it and that was the difference in the match.\"

Glatch, hampered by nagging injuries in 2010 like Achilles tendinitis and an irritated tendon in her foot, said she's looking forward to Wimbledon qualifying and the U.S. Open summer hardcourt circuit events like Stanford and La Costa, her favorite time of the year.

Giorgi was bound for a night of celebration on Hollywood Blvd., having never been to Los Angeles before. What movie star was she most hoping to see? Brad Pitt? George Clooney? \"No, Batman,\" she said. \"I want to see Batman.\"

For more information on the tournament log onto the website at www.usta.com/carsonchallenger.

Sunday's Singles Final
Camila Giorgi, Italy, [1] def. Alexa Glatch U.S. [2], 7-6 (4), 6-1

ABOUT THE USTA PRO CIRCUIT:

With more than 90 tournaments throughout the country and prize money ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, the USTA Pro Circuit is the pathway to the US Open and tour-level competition for aspiring tennis players and a frequent battleground for established professionals. Last year, more than 1,000 men and women from more than 70 countries competed on the USTA Pro Circuit for approximately $3.2 million in prize money and valuable ATP World Tour and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour ranking points. Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick, James Blake, Andy Murray, Jelena Jankovic, Melanie Oudin and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are among today's top stars that began their careers on the USTA Pro Circuit. The USTA Pro Circuit is world class tennis administered on the local level and played on local tennis courts as part of the fabric of communities nationwide -- an opportunity for current and new fans to experience the excitement and intensity of the professional game in their neighborhood.

Contact:

USTA Press Aide
Steve Pratt; (310) 408-4555 or sprattt@aol.com