Australian Open 2023: Belinda Bencic vs Camila Giorgi preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match details
Fixture: (12) Belinda Bencic vs Camila Giorgi
Date: January 21, 2023
Tournament: Australian Open 2023
Round: Third round (Round of 32)
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Outdoor Hardcourt
Prize money: A$76,500,000
Live telecasts: USA - ESPN | UK - Eurosport | India - Sony Six, Sony Ten & Sony Liv
Belinda Bencic vs Camila Giorgi preview
Adelaide International 2 champion Belina Bencic has extended her winning streak at the 2023 Australian Open, having reached the third round of the season's first Grand Slam without dropping a set.
Bencic, the 12th seed at this year’s tournament, came to Melbourne with the perfect build-up. She dominated the field at the WTA 500 event in Adelaide and also posted a few strong wins representing the Swiss team at the United Cup. Her wins over Viktoriya Tomova and Claire Liu here would have only bolstered her confidence.
The Swiss, however, now faces a completely different opponent in the mercurial Camila Giorgi in the final hurdle before the second week.
Giorgi opened her 2023 season with a tight three-set loss against Sorana Cirstea. She did not play any other matches in the lead-up to the Australian Open and came into the Slam in ambiguous form.
The Italian's first-round havoc against Anastasia Pavlyucheckova, where she only dropped one game, however, put most doubts to rest. Giorgi followed that up with another clean performance against Anna Karolina Schiemdlova
Belinda Bencic vs Camila Giorgi head-to-head
Belinda Bencic leads Camila Giorgi in their current head-to-head 3-2. The Swiss has also won the duo's last two meetings — the latest of which came at the 2019 Billie Jean King Cup.
Belinda Bencic vs Camila Giorgio odds
(Odds sourced from BetMGM)
Belinda Bencic vs Camila Giorgi prediction
The opening-round contest will pit two of the biggest ball-strikers on the Tour. Belinda Bencic, however, enjoys playing against pace and is a master at using her opponent's power against them. Her recent wins over the likes of Garbine Muguruza and Caroline Garcia are a testament to the same.
Camila Giorgi plays a gung-ho brand of tennis that is not much different from that of those opponents. Her high-risk game has seen the Italian surge to titles, beating top players with surprising ease.
That said, Giorgi can just as easily go off the rails and be her own worst enemy on the court. She also rarely makes any adjustments to her game when things are not working out against a particular opponent.
The Italian could well ask a few questions of Bencic, but the latter looks too steady coming into the contest to fall prey to an opponent whose game she understands well.
Prediction: Bencic to win in three sets