TOKYO — Unseeded Camila Giorgi rallied from a break point down in the final set to beat two-time defending champion Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 and advance to the Pan Pacific Open quarterfinals on Thursday.
Trailing 2-0 in the final set, Giorgi broke back immediately and won six of the last eight games.
The Italian finished with 45 winners to Wozniacki’s 14.
It was Giorgi’s third win over Wozniacki, all on hard courts, but her first win over a top-10 players in four years.
Wozniacki found her game in the second set, saving all nine break points she faced — including one in the first game and five at 1-1 — to send the match the distance.
The Dane started the quicker of the two in the third set, winning eight of the first nine points to build a 2-0 lead but Giorgi fought back to set up a quarterfinal clash with wild card Victoria Azarenka.
Azarenka beat seventh-seeded Ashleigh Barty 6-4, 6-2 for her first top-20 win since March.
Also, unseeded Donna Vekic came from a double break down in the second set to defeat Johanna Konta 6-3, 7-5 to reach her fifth quarterfinal of the year.
Eighth-seeded Barbora Strycova outlasted Anett Kontaveit 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-5 and will face U.S. Open champion and local favourite Naomi Osaka in the quarterfinals on Friday.
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