Two weeks facing the same opponent, from a complete defeat to a total victory, Jorja has shown improvement.

Every year, from January to early November, the tour never takes a break for over ten months. This leads to many players facing each other multiple times in the same year. However, it is quite rare for players to compete against the same opponent in different tournaments over two consecutive weeks. Nevertheless, during these two weeks, one player faced the same opponent twice on the tour, and the results were entirely different. So, what exactly happened? Let this article take you through it.

The player in question is Australian Jorja. In mid-May, she won against Croatian player Konjuh, American player Warriner, American player Ann Li, compatriot Tomljanovic, and Romanian player Cristian at the WTA250 Rabat Open in Morocco, achieving a remarkable five-match winning streak to claim her first career tour title, drawing widespread attention from fans.

After winning this title, Jorja did not stop her progress. In late June, she continued her winning streak at the WTA250 Eastbourne Open in the UK, defeating Tunisian player Jabeur, British player Raducanu, Russian player Blinkova, Russian player Pavlyuchenkova, and Filipino player Eala, earning her second career tour title. Objectively speaking, in this five-match winning streak, Jorja defeated players all ranked within the top 75, which undoubtedly adds more value compared to her first title win.

Last week, Jorja arrived at the WTA500 Washington Open. In the first round, her opponent was Canadian player Fernandez, who reached a Grand Slam final back in 2021. Moreover, Fernandez has won three tour titles. From both a strength and ranking perspective, she is well above Jorja.

Indeed, in this match, despite Jorja giving her all, she could only secure six games throughout the match, halting her progress. After defeating Jorja, Fernandez emerged from the embarrassment of her early exit at Wimbledon and subsequently won against American players Pegula and Townsend, Kazakh player Rybakina, and Russian player Kalinskaya, claiming her first WTA500 title.

This week in the first round of the WTA1000 Montreal Open, Jorja and Fernandez faced off once again. This time, playing in front of her hometown crowd, how would Fernandez perform after her recent breakthrough? Perhaps still adjusting to the American time zone, this time Fernandez was completely out of form. She managed to win only five games throughout the match, even fewer than the number Jorja secured against her last week. Such a performance clearly could not ensure victory. Ultimately, Jorja triumphed over her opponent, securing her second win of the year in WTA1000 events.

Although in the subsequent match she lost after initially taking the lead, being reversed by American player Kessler, the fact that she could overcome the shadow of her defeat against Fernandez and sweep her opponent in a rematch demonstrates Jorja's improvement. This is the tennis story for today; more to come tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Yixin Jushi)