LONDON: French Open champion Garbine Muguruza had to work hard to transfer her punch on Paris clay to Wimbledon’s grass yesterday, beating Camila Giorgi 6-2 5-7 6-4 with a performance of powerful baseline tennis.
In a match coinciding with the Spain v Italy clash at Euro 2016 in France, the Spanish world number two and her battling Italian opponent, ranked 65 places below, entertained the Centre Court with intense rallies of relentless ferocity.
It was the confidence and enormous serve of last year’s runner-up Muguruza that that got the better of Giorgi – but not before the 24-year-old Italian had overcome bouts of inconsistency to force a forehand error and grab the second set.
Meanwhile, former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic was knocked out in the first round, losing 6-2, 7-5 to Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova, the world 223.
Ivanovic, the 2008 Roland Garros champion and a semi-finalist at the All England Club in 2007, suffered just her second opening round loss at Wimbledon in 12 visits. Alexandrova is making her Grand Slam debut and had won just one match on the main tour in her entire career before Monday’s shock win over the 23rd seed.
The 21-year-old, whose career prize money of under $60,000 paled in comparison to Ivanovic’s $15 million, goes on to face Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam for a place in the last 32.