‘She Was Hot’- Camila Giorgi’s Shock Tennis Retirement Prompts American Legend to Pay Heart-Felt Tribute to Her Legacy
Italian tennis star Camila Giorgi has hung up her racket at 32! On Tuesday, her name was formally displayed on the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s (ITIA) retired players list. The four-time WTA champion’s retirement came as a surprise, as the Italian Tennis Federation (FITP) announced the news on Wednesday without a formal statement from Giorgi herself. Their brief message stating that Giorgi “has said goodbye to tennis” simply confirmed her departure from the sport. While this left tennis fans and veterans in shock wondering what led to this sudden step, American tennis legend, Tracy Austin recently recalled the highest moment of Giorgi’s career during a conversation on the ‘Tennis Channel Live Podcast.’
The former Top 30 player last played at the 2024 Miami Open, where she got thrashed by Iga Swiatek in the R64. Currently ranked 116th in the women’s ranking, Giorgi didn’t enter her name at the 2024 Roland Garros. She didn’t even put up any social media posts, nor did she address the matter publicly. However, the FITP later confirmed the news stating, “A WTA 1000 title in Montreal, best ranking at number 26 WTA and 4 overall trophies in her career, Camila Giorgi says goodbye to tennis at the age of 32.” The 61-year-old former World No.1 was asked her thoughts on this sudden “real retirement”.
Despite reaching a career-high ranking of No. 26 in the world, she retired having last held the No. 116 position, Austin said, “Well, if you look at her results from this year, she has been outside the Top 100. Her ranking has gone south.” However, Tracy recalled Camila’s red hot form in her career calling her dangerous: “Somebody who has played as well as Camila Giorgi, has been as dangerous as Camila Giorgi. She has always been that dangerous floater in the draw.”
Then, after seeing a video clip from Giorgi’s historic feat, Tracy Austin added, “This is when she won in Montreal in 2021. I called every single one of her matches. She beat Pliskova there, she beat Pegula, she beat Gauff, she beat Kvitova, she was on fire! She was smarter that tournament, she was building points.” Austin spoke about how Giorgi overcame all obstacles in that tournament to finally clinch one of the biggest victories in her career at the 2021 National Bank Open in Montreal, defeating former world No. 1, Karolína Plíšková, in the final.. “Actually it’s sad to see her go,” Austin felt nobody wanted to see her go because “She was Hot!”
