Camila Giorgi of Italy won the fourth Hologic WTA Tour singles title of her career on Sunday night, battling past Swedish qualifier Rebecca Peterson 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-2 at the Merida Open Akron.

Giorgi fought back from 2-0 down in the third set, eventually reeling off the last six games of the match to prevail after 2 hours and 23 minutes and improve to 3-1 lifetime against Peterson. 

Fast facts: Giorgi is back in the winner’s circle for the first time since she won the WTA 1000 title at 2021 Montreal. Giorgi’s other titles came at 2015 ‘s-Hertogenbosch and 2018 Linz.

The week marks a rebound in form for former World No.26 Giorgi, who is currently ranked No.68. Prior to this week, Giorgi had not reached a Tour-level quarterfinal since Eastbourne last June.

Merida: Top points from Giorgi and Peterson's third-set tussle

Giorgi swept to the final this week without the loss of a set, and she then held off former Top 50 player Peterson, who was previously 2-0 in WTA singles finals. Giorgi fired 40 winners to Peterson's 22 in the evening final.

Match moments: In the first set, Giorgi double faulted on break point to give a 4-3 lead to Peterson, but Peterson could not serve out the set at 5-4. Peterson saved a set point at 6-5 with a forehand winner, but Giorgi hit four winners in the tiebreak to lead by a set after 66 minutes.

Peterson, though, won eight of the next nine games, drawing errors from hard-hitting Giorgi, often from the forehand side. Peterson led by a break in the third set at 2-0 after that run of games.

However, Giorgi provided the final plot twist, slamming big forehands to break Peterson twice consecutively and lead 4-2. A commanding love hold for 5-2 was followed by a third straight break of Peterson’s service, meaning Giorgi swept six games in a row to take the crown.

Doubles final: Earlier on Sunday, Caty McNally and Diane Parry defeated Wang Xinyu and Wu Fang-hsien 6-0, 7-5 in 1 hour and 12 minutes to claim the Merida Open Akron doubles title.

McNally and Parry cruised through the first set, where they won 15 of 16 first-service points and never faced a break point. Wang and Wu made things closer after that, earning the first break of the second set at 4-3, but McNally and Parry reeled off four of the next five games to triumph.

McNally continues to excel on the doubles court with her seventh WTA title in that discipline. The 21-year-old American also made the second WTA singles semifinal of her career this week in Merida.

Meanwhile, it is a breakthrough title for 20-year-old Frenchwoman Parry, who captures the crown in the first WTA final of her career.