Tennis Boxing from Lyon
Camila Giorgi vs Alize Cornet
(Italy vs France)
WTA Rankings: #94 vs #58

Venue: Palais des Sports de Gerland, Lyon, France

{{{ Story based on a real-life tennis match played in the second round of the WTA Lyon Open last week. }}}

BEFORE: Despite an injury plagued 2019 season Camila Giorgi remains Italy's top ranked player but she's facing a tough battle on hostile ground versus Alize Cornet tonight. Clash of styles is evident, Camila is a naturally aggressive swarmer while Alize relies on her counter-punching & durability. Most fans believe this could be over real quick - with Giorgi blasting the French rival into stupor - or drag on forever which would help Cornet's cause.

Camila's full-blown attack mode usually meets plenty of support among the fans but the partisan French crowd allows Alize to steal the walk-in as she blows kisses to the audience; Giorgi is the last player on tour to show any emotions on court but she still gives the local favorite a lenghty death stare during the introductions.

Camila Giorgi wears a white crop top with violet floral theme, matching micro hotpants & white gloves. Dark blonde hair tied in a braid. Alize Cornet wears a navy blue crop top, white hip-huggers & red gloves. Long dark brown hair tied in a custom ponytail. The fight is scheduled in ten rounds in the lightweight division.

Round 1:
Both girls settle into a head-hunting exchange but fail to ignite a proper slugging action and Alize's impressive footwork leaves the hard-hitting Italian neutralized when she tries to add her trademark power supply into the mix. She misfires badly several times and gets beaten for a quick counter-punching response however Alize struggles to make her combos count and relies on single strikes that don't really hurt the younger opponent. The judges should be pleased with this effort though as home court advantage always plays a part in these international events.

Round 2:
Camila gets more aggressive and begins to stack up more single punches in the brunette's face but Alize withstands the initial jabbing barrage and whips a proper response to glue the Italian to the spot in the center of the ring. A classic war of attrition shouldn't suit the Frenchwoman at all but she gets encouraged by the rampant ovation from the Lyon crowd and blasts a nasty combo into the blonde's chin before tackling her midsection for the first time tonight. Giorgi shakes it off without a single reaction but she fails to smack the older foe in close range and gets clinched into safety before Cornet turns her up along the ropes and adds more body assault late in the going which allows her to win the round outright.

Round 3:
Giorgi just can't land her jabbing series to open up the lithe French operator and pays another counter-punching price in the opening minute of the third. Alize keeps her spirited attacks steady on target and dissects the blonde's high guard in persistent fashion which forces Camila to seek a rare respite in mid-range. She remains very flat-footed despite her aggressive reputation and allows Cornet to outbox her from afar to inject more noise into the partisan French crowd. Does Camila eye a highlight haymaker KO finish and ignores all the artistic impression value already? That's a dangerous plan while fighting on Alize's home court tonight!

Round 4:
Alize's counter-punching carries her into a dominant momentum early in the fourth as Camila's high guard collapses during a heated jabbing exchange and allows the brunette to smack cruel punches into the blonde's mouth; Giorgi wobbles onto her heels and trips over her feet when she tries to bail out into mid-range which allows Cornet to BLAST her with a looping drive that bounces off the temples and rocks the younger girl's head in back & forth fashion. Camila gets backed onto the ropes in a hurry and struggles to survive the onslaught while Alize gets vocal on top of her jabbing frenzy that grinds the Italian down come the two-minute mark. GIORGI TAKES A KNEE as she gets ripped up in ruthless fashion and spits out her gumshield in frustration! Uh-oh! The Lyon audience doesn't like the delay at all even though Camila controls the count and gets up at eight staring down the fired up opponent. Cornet wants to finish off the visibly shaken blonde like right NOW but she just can't steer her punches on target as Giorgi somehow escapes the looming disaster and displays a rare agility boost to keep the charging Frenchwoman at bay.

Round 5:
Alize abandons the counter-punching plan and tries to beat Camila with her own weapon but that's a risky plan even when you consider the Italian is very much struggling out there tonight. Vintage slugfest doesn't break Camila's resilience and leaves Alize barking in anger when she bounces off the high guard too often to make a decisive difference. She empties her energy pack in the opening minute and gets whacked across the mouth instead which fuels a late Italian rally as if the knockdown actually flipped a switch in Giorgi's performance tank instead. She was always favored to out-punch the brunette in heads-up war of attrition and she lands too many of these clean hooks into Cornet's face for the Lyon crowd not to take notice!

Round 6:
Alize has build a large lead on the cards but she backs off from the merciless stalking after failing to knock the Italian out in the fifth; this change of heart allows Giorgi right back into this fight as she beats the sluggish foe in punch-for-punch slugging exchange and begins to really expose her high guard down the stretch. The French crowd tries to fuel another aggressive period from their faithful but Alize runs out of gas following a series of body blows and eats a nasty uppercut on the chin late in the going before Camila belts her in the boobs and leaves her slumped at the bell.

Rounds 7 & 8:
Alize was supposed to dominate the later rounds but it's Camila who defies the odds with more slugging success that just drains the hitherto dominant brunette out. Alize's head rocks back & forth upon the point-blank range impact and Giorgi bullies her around the ring only for the old clinching stalemate to come to Cornet's rescue. However Camila finds the harpoon breakthrough blasting the brunette in the gut repeatedly and Alize groans in visible pain at the end of the seventh before she gets battered into a stupor for majority of the eight! Ugh! She wilts underneath the head-hunting attacks and looks flat out tired when the Italian bumps her onto the ropes to wreck more havoc downstairs. Giorgi digs her forearm into Cornet's boobs and DRILLS her exposed midriff to silence the Lyon crowd before a looping hook on the nose almost floors the aching brunette at the bell. Ugh! Another lenghty stare from Giorgi signals she's not done with her comeback just yet whie Cornet just shakes her head in frustration instead.

Round 9:
Camila blows up Alize's high guard and powers ahead with a ruthless hooking series that finally breaks the French girl's resilience. Alize gets whipped on her heels and struggles to raise her arms let alone fire back at the charging Italian who delivers another hooking blast that renders the older opponent woozy. Alize slumps on her knees with a loud whimper and gets CRUSHED with a wicked hook on the nose that SPINS HER FACE-DOWN ON THE CANVAS a split second later! Disaster for the partisan crowd as Cornet only gets up on all fours and crawls back to her corner before she realizes her mistake. She gets up on some VERY shaky legs here and looks to be utterly spend but the ref allows her to continue while Giorgi can barely hide a smile on her face... She RIPS into the brunette's face and batters her onto the ropes where she makes sure Alize doesn't even land a single punch in response! Several brutal punches dig deep into the brunette's face and make her squeal in pain, we're barely past the half-way mark of the round and Alize is serving as the proverbial dummy punchbag so THE REF STEPS IN TO SAVE THE BATTERED WOMAN from further damage!!! TKO9 Camila Giorgi in come-from-behind fashion!!!

AFTER: No home cooking to save Alize from this painful defeat as she probably would have been knocked out regardless! Camila shakes her glove into Alize's face but quickly struts back to her corner and scans the Lyon audience with that cheeky spark in her eye. How about that stoppage then? Camila is virtually unstoppable when her 'A' game works but she can grind out these lenghty marathons as well albeit not often enough to be a regular Top 10 challenger. She looked all but out of this contest after four rounds but Alize just couldn't put the icing on the cake and suffered a nasty blowback treatment which left most of the French fans in pure disbelief.

Official Result: Camila Giorgi def. Alize Cornet TKO9.