Camila Giorgi, the story of Nadia Podoroska's next rival in Linz: her father and coach is a former Malvinas combatant

Nadia Podoroska confirmed this Wednesday in her first match after reaching the Roland Garros semifinals that she is experiencing the best year of her career. Her triumph in Linz allowed her to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Austrian tournament, in which she will face the Italian Camila Giorgi , whose origin is actually closer to Argentina than to Europe itself.

Camila was born in Macerata, Italy, on December 30, 1991. She made her professional debut in 2006 and is currently No. 75 in the WTA ranking. She has to her credit two titles at the highest level, Hertogenbosch 2015 and Linz 2018, and some resounding triumphs like the one she achieved against Caroline Wozniacki, former world No. 1, at the 2020 US Open.

So far, part of the story of a tennis player who could be similar to that of several others. The particularity that distinguishes the Italian is that her father, Sergio Giorgi, is Argentine and fought in the Malvinas War. But Sergio is not only her father, he is also the coach her.

Like his daughter, Sergio does not go unnoticed in the halls of the women's professional tennis circuit. He has spent years fighting for the transcendence of the sport that he considers to be overshadowed by the voracity of the big companies. He forged his personality along a path that marked him forever, when one Saturday when he was returning to his family home in La Plata after going dancing with friends, he had to dress as a soldier when he found the notification that he would go to war.

“I was alone with my brothers, because I was in charge of them, and I found that. She was 19 years old and I didn't realize what was happening. I thought I was going on vacation, to see a new place. Nothing will happen, we said. And then it happened,” Giorgi recalled about his experience in the Malvinas in statements to the site Te Leemos Las Noticias.

"But I was lucky, very lucky. I saved myself from dying several times. These are things that happen. Sometimes you're on a roll, you have a good or bad time. When I came back I went to finger from La Plata to Bariloche. I did it to forget a bit; I stayed for two weeks, came back and started studying at the university," added his daughter's coach today.

Sergio assures that he overcame that experience. That on this he suffered the death of his eldest daughter, which really hurt him forever. "At that moment the war became nothing next to the latter," he considered and recalled that "once the conflict ended, in '82, everything ended. I made my life, my family. I was studying, I won a scholarship and since I had an Italian passport, I left and stayed there.”

An anti-system

Today, Sergio Giorgi fights against companies and tennis federations that only think about business. “When Camila was seven years old, she was called by the Italian Tennis Federation and we never went from her. It's a difficult world, it's monopolized. There are certain companies, they have their agents and they are not handled well. It was positive, but also negative because we didn't have money to play tournaments”.

Only the one who wins exists, big companies think and Sergio knows it." At home I have a lot of rejected contracts. Last year, after Camila's good Wimbledon tournament, they came to see me, but with contracts that were not useful. Now, the clothes that Camila wears are designed by my wife, they have no brand and are one of the best on the circuit. I never understood why the world of tennis is so closed, so checked".

When asked about the problems that the battles he wages bring him, he acknowledged: “There are agents with whom I argued. Now they don't get as close to me, but they know me, so I'm calm. I want to build Camila's future because they give the players little money, except for the Top 20. And I'm not satisfied with that. I'm a bit of an idealist and in this world where so much money is handled, you can't be so, so idealistic. Most in the world of tennis are sharks. You have to be vigilant.”

Finally, Giorgi answered why Camila represents Italy and not Argentina: “No one from the Argentine Association was close to me, ever. The possibility existed, we thought about it; It did not happen because we never had proposals, "he said.

More about Camila Giorgi

She is trained by Sergio Giorgi, her Argentine father. Her mother's name is Claudia and her brothers are Leandro and Amadeus and Antonela. He started playing tennis at the age of five and his favorite surface is hard court. He admires Pedro Almodóvar, his favorite book is The Diary of Anne Frank and he has a passion for boxing, soccer and MotoGP.

Your individual titles

Hertogenbosch 2015

Linz 2018

Finals

Washington DC 2019

Bronx 2016

Katowice 2015

Katowice 2014

Katowice 2014

Linz 2014.