Insider Wrap: Giorgi's dominance, Pegula's grittiness highlight Montreal
The Insider Wrap is a recap of everything you need to know from the week that was. This week, WTA Insider looks back at the Omnium Banque Nationale in Montreal, Canada, where Camila Giorgi brought the form, Jessica Pegula
Performance of the Week: Camila Giorgi
Camila Giorgi playing top-notch tennis is nothing new.
Camila Giorgi playing unbeatable tennis for six consecutive matches? That felt like a development.
The 29-year-old Italian lost just one set en route to the biggest title of her career, defeating three Top 20 opponents, including Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova in the final to win the Omnium Banque Nationale in Montreal.
Champions Corner: Giorgi on art, family and why tennis isn't everything
Giorgi's high-octane power game has found a dangerous level of consistency of the past few months, where she advanced to the Eastbourne semifinals as a qualifier, came within touching distance of the medal round at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and now capturing the third title of her career.
She has done it by being smarter about when to unleash on her big baseline hitting and when to pull back to rely on her underrated speed and court coverage.
Sunday's final was Pliskova's third loss to Giorgi during her hot streak, and the Czech agreed that the improved consistency stands out.
"Now somehow I had the feeling from her that she's more solid," Pliskova said. Even when we played in Eastbourne, she beat super good players. She's doing quite well. It's all about confidence I feel like in tennis.
"Still, I think she's a player, which can hit big winners. You can't only wait for mistakes. That was not really my mindset. Of course, even sometimes you play well, she can still play fast because she has all these possibilities for how to play. At some point she's missing, as well.
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"It's difficult to play these kinds of players because it's not only like about me, she has big weapons as well."
From Serena Williams to Petra Kvitova, from Jelena Ostapenko
Surprise of the Week: Jessica Pegula
The American continued her fine form at the WTA 1000 level, advancing to her first WTA 1000 semifinal in Montreal. The result in itself is no surprise. After ending Danielle Collins
What was surprising about Pegula's Montreal run was the how. After taking a slew of tough three-set losses this season, the American reeled off four consecutive three-set wins, defeating Anett Kontaveit, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Honor Roll
Karolina Pliskova and Aryna Sabalenka
What does the 2021 season look like if Aryna Sabalenka
Similarly, with her loss to Giorgi in the Montreal final, Pliskova is 0-3 against Giorgi this season, along with 0-4 against Pegula. In a time of unprecedented depth and parity, this is a clear reminder that matchups matter on the WTA Tour.
Rebecca Marino
With athlete mental health in the spotlight for good reason this year, Marino is a foundational figure in seeing how depression can chase a player out of the sport and how, after therapy and treatment, they can find their way back. Appearing in the main draw in Montreal for the first time in 10 years, the big-hitting Canadian wildcard scored wins over Madison Keys
For more on Marino's story, click here.
Katerina Siniakova
It would be too easy to link Siniakova's improved singles play to her longtime doubles partner Barbora Krejcikova
But Siniakova has clearly leveled up her singles results over the past three months, making the final in Bad Homburg in June. In Montreal she defeated Jelena Ostapenko
Ons Jabeur
If there is a trophy for the woman who played the most joyous tennis in Montreal, that would go to Ons Jabeur
As Jabeur put together highlight-reel wins over Daria Kasatkina
Pegula: "I want to shout out all the Tunisian fans, it's really amazing you guys coming out. I know you weren't rooting for me but what Ons has brought has been incredible. So it's amazing to see her reaching people around the world and it's amazing." #OBN21
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) August 14, 2021
Simona Halep
The Romanian downplayed any expectations ahead of her first match in three months, where she would take on Collins in the first round of Montreal. She walked away feeling well ahead of schedule after a grueling, high-quality three-set loss. She was happy with her movement and how she felt the ball on court.
Read: Halep reflects on the end of an era after falling out of Top 10
Danielle Collins
All good things come to an end, but Collins certainly didn't let her 12-match winning streak go down without a fight. She clawed back from a break down in the third to get back on serve at 5-5 against Pegula, before losing 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Ultimately, the loss may prove to be a blessing for Collins, giving her body some time to rest and recover as she eyes New York.
Projected rankings update
After dropping out of the Top 10 for the first time since 2016 at the start of Wimbledon, Pliskova has made back-to-back finals. With her runner-up showings at Wimbledon and Montreal, the Czech is back in the Top 5 for the first time since September.
Montreal champion Giorgi surges from No.71 to No.34 to inch closer to her career-high at No.26.
After the first WTA 1000 of the summer hardcourt season, the WTA Top 10 sees a bit of shuffling, but no major movement:
1. Barty
2. Osaka
3. Sabalenka
4. Pliskova (+2)
5. Kenin (-1)
6. Svitiolina (-1)
7. Andreescu (+1)
8. Swiatek (-1)
9. Muguruza
10. Krejcikova
For a look at the Porsche Race Leaderboard, click here.
