Giorgi and Kapros Reach Tevlin Final

November 21, 2009

Final match to be Web cast live on Sunday

Championship match at the $50,000 Tevlin Challenger is set as Italy’s Camila Giorgi and Hungary’s Aniko Kapros advanced through the semifinals on Saturday. Giorgi defeated Canadian top-seed Stephanie Dubois (Laval, Quebec) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 and Kapros was the beneficiary of a walkover by No. 4 seed Sharon Fichman (Toronto).

Giorgi is a rising star in Italy, moving steadily up the rankings over the past three years. She currently sits at a career-high No. 285 and captured her first professional title in 2009 at the $25,000 Katowice Challenger in Poland. She has also reached four additional Challenger quarter-finals this season. Her play this week has been highlighted by a booming serve and hard-hitting groundstrokes making her powerful game extremely difficult for her opponents to handle.

Fichman, who had to retire from the doubles final on Friday, was forced to withdraw from the singles competition with an ankle sprain, allowing Kapros to advance to her third ITF Challenger final of the year. Kapros, ranked No. 212, will be looking for her third career title and first since 2006. A former Top 50 player, Kapros played her best tennis in 2004 where she reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and a career-high No. 44 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Rankings.

“I’m very happy to be in the final but I’m sorry that it had to be this way,” said Kapros. “Giorgi is a young, up-and-coming player and she has been hitting in a really good rhythm this week. I have to mix up my game and try to get her out of that rhythm tomorrow. I think it will be a good match and anything can happen.”

The two have never played each other before.

Championship match at the Tevlin Challenger will be Web cast live via tenniscanada.com at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The Tevlin Challenger is taking place at the Tennis Canada Centre of Excellence, the indoor facility located beside the world-class Rexall Centre in Toronto. Admission is free.