Tennis Boxing from Summer Olympic Games
Elina Svitolina vs Camila Giorgi
(Ukraine vs Italy)
WTA Rankings: #6 vs #61

Venue: Ariake Tennis Park, Tokyo, Japan

{{{ OOC: Story based on a real-life tennis match in the quarter-finals of the OG tennis tournament }}}

BEFORE: It's fair to say Elina Svitolina has maximized her counter-punching potential over the years but the same can't be said about power-hitting Camila Giorgi who never lived up to flashes of peak performance through various reasons - the main one being related to dubious coaching to say the very least. However she's picked up great form during the 2021 summer (foreshadowing a WTA 1000 tournament victory in Montreal) and must be considered a genuine threat to the higher-ranked opponent. As is often the case with elite defensive players, Svitolina tends to produce ugly tennis but comes away with the big 'W' at the end of the day. In the boxing ring Giorgi is best suited to knock her lights out though so let's see how things unfold in the Ariake Tennis Park!

Elina Svitolina wears a yellow crop top, matching hotpants & blue gloves. Long blonde hair wrapped in a bun at the back of her head. Camila Giorgi wears a savoy blue crop top, white hotpants & matching blue gloves. Long blonde hair tied in a braid. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the welterweight division.

Round 1:
Camila stays true to her swarming nature and dominates the early action with some head-hunting efforts that force Elina to display the bendy defense and frustrate the fellow blonde in mid-range. Svitolina prefers to weather the storm but still eats some good licks as Camila fires away in style and tries to trap her opponent on the ropes. Elina ducks away from danger but spends the middle part of the round in more retreat before she finally decides to swing back at the charging Italian. She nicks a couple of good shots into Giorgi's face but then gets busted on the nose with a heavy right hand and bails out into mid-range to concede the round on points.

Rounds 2 & 3:
Vintage phone booth boxing follows and prevents Camila from stretching her elbows while Elina works leather to the body and assumes control of the messy action. She stymies Giorgi in the center of the ring and keeps drilling the toned abs until she makes Camila yelp in pain before firing uppercuts on the chin to really expose the Italian's below par guard. Camila refuses to back off at first but eats more of these head shots down the stretch while her own attacks suddenly slice thin air. Similar script in the third, Camila all bombs away but shooting over the bendy Ukrainian who goes low in response and plugs leather into Giorgi's midriff to render her stiff down the stretch. The immobile Italian becomes an easy target so Elina duly cleans her out downstairs to forge ahead on points.

Round 4:
Camila becomes more hectic again and cranks up the head-hunting assault which Elina avoids in the first minute until she gets caught by a vicious hook on the left temple and stumbles to the side. Ugh! Giorgi bumps her onto the ropes and buries behind a ferocious hooking blast however Svitolina survives the charge and clinches the fellow blonde into safety. Camila still barges her in the liver area and shakes off the stalemate to keep the Ukrainian pinned in the corner for remainder of the round. More heavy bombs test Elina's high-guard and she soaks up a couple of them on each brow ridge before busting a response on Camila's cleavage which leads into a lenghty clinch again to close out the round. Giorgi takes it on points wide but it sure feels like Svitolina avoided a real disaster anyway.

Rounds 5 & 6:
Hassle mode from the Italian player continues and she gives Elina more chance to showcase that great mobility of hers. The fight remains on Giorgi's terms but she can't truly punish the younger blonde even though she follows through with single punches upstairs. One solid combo could open the flood gates but it never arrives before Svitolina clinches her way into a safe position. Ref gives her a warning but she fends off Camila's heat by blowing into her guts, not enough to steal the round but enough to upset the Italian's camp. More of the same in the sixth, Giorgi ups the slugging tempo but lands only single punches and falls into a counter-punching menace down ths stretch. She hangs on to pancake Svitolina's abs but gets clinched and dragged onto the turnbuckle where she loses all her aggressive comfort and allows the Ukrainian woman to bash her in the guts without reply.

Round 7:
Elina blows more harpoons into the fellow blonde's body to start the seventh and this time she slows Camila enough to mount her attack earlier than before. Giorgi appears to be searching for a brief respite but no matter how hard she tries, she can't match Elina's footwork and gets bumped onto the ropes where she soaks up more punishment. Svitolina barks amid the piston attack that ravages the Italian's midsection and leaves her slumped into more spasms once the younger blonde flicks a couple of mean uppercuts on the jaw as well. Elina pulls the rare slugging trigger and mauls Camila upstairs late in the going, she splits the guard wide open and leaves her foe nursing a fat lip at the bell. Most WTA pundits smell a signature counter-punching success now!

Round 8:
Camila has run into a physical wall and struggles to embrace another gut-checking drive from the relentless Ukrainian. Elina cranks up the harpoon pounce and slumps Giorgi into loud spasms before she finally plugs her in the solar plexus one time too often! DOWN GOES THE ITALIAN!!! Camila slides onto her knees and hugs the aching midriff before making a very tired-looking recovery at eight. She stares down the opposite corner where Elina jumps up & down and is ready to resume the punishment! Ref waves the fight on so Svitolina has to go out there one more time and she makes Giorgi regret the rebound effort as she chops her in the aching area and tears a visible reddish patch across the ribcage before she bundles her onto the ropes where Camila simply wilts under the barrage. She offers nothing back anymore and SLIDES ONTO HER BACKSIDE amid a wild leather frenzy from the younger blonde! Uh-oh!!! That should do it!!! Camila rolls onto her side with eyes closed and makes no genuine effort to beat the count. KO8 Elina Svitolina!!!

AFTER: Big win for the Top 10-ranked player who more or less secured her biggest result on hard courts this summer (later confirmed to be a bronze medal). Elina physically can outlast anyone - even some of these big-hitters - but she'll never be considered a peak grinder on the Caroline Wozniacki level unless she finally manages to win a Grand Slam tournament. Her peak form appears to be in slow decline though which is not that uncommon for counter-punchers who often fizzle out in their late 20s. Elina turns 27 soon and she might be running out of her chances indeed.

Official Result: Elina Svitolina def. Camila Giorgi KO8 (Tennis score was 6-4, 6-4).