After having already swept Océane Dodin (94th in the world) on Friday to allow the Italians to lead 2-0, the tornado Giorgi (30th) again left no chance for Tan (107th), preferred to Alizé Cornet (34th) for the Saturday's first single.
The surprise guest of the day misled the heavy-hitting Italian early in the game, scoring an entry break that allowed her to lead 2-0 on the hard court of Alghero (Sardinia) .
But Giorgi, back to competition this weekend after a month and a half without competition, quickly regained precision and rhythm to not leave any play to his opponent, a terrible 12-0 synonymous with qualification!
Rather than this Frenchwoman whom she had never met before, the Italian had nevertheless prepared to face Cornet, an opponent whom she knew well (seven oppositions), having learned of the change of composition only one hour before the match.
The French captain Julien Benneteau therefore did not win the bet attempted by launching Tan for his debut for the France team, perhaps because of the energy expended and the undoubtedly damaged morale of Cornet, after his defeat at the end of the a tough battle of nearly 2:30 on Friday against Jasmine Paolini (48th).
The initial defeat of their N.1, who had failed to convert two match points in the third set before collapsing in the decisive game (6-2, 1-6, 6-7), had immediately put the Blues back to the wall, facing Italians confident on their land.
"On Friday, we showed that we had character, Jasmine did something incredible," said Italian captain Tathiana Garbin again after this qualification.
Italy, even before the last single between Paolini and Dodin, is thus guaranteed to play the final phase, which will bring together twelve nations in November.
France, like the other beaten weekend, will play a play-off on November 11 and 12 to stay in the elite.
© 2022 AFP