Despite issuing 14 double faults and at one
point throwing her racket in frustration, Giorgi stayed composed
in the final set breaker, smacking a forehand winner on match
point to end the three-hour, 32-minute slugfest.
Giorgi will next face 14th-seeded Victoria Azarenka, who like
the other 32 seeded players at the tournament received a
first-round bye.
Elsewhere, Belgian Elise Mertens brushed aside American Alycia
Parks 6-1 6-4 to set up a second-round clash with eighth-seed
Daria Kasatkina.
Mertens, a three-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, put her
net skills to good use to see off Parks and set up a meeting
with the crafty Kasatkina.
"She has a very good forehand and she can get a lot of balls
back," Mertens said of the Russian.
"She's number eight seed for a reason. I'm just going to try to
focus on myself."
Canadians Rebecca Marino and Katherine Sebov, Ukrainian Marta
Kostyuk and China's Wang Xiyu were among the other first-round
winners at the WTA 1000 event.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Stephen
Coates)
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