World News – UA – Sakkari stops Svitolina to reach Ostrava quarter-finals

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Maria Sakkari is in her third Premier quarter-final of the season after knocking down seed Elina Svitolina in straight sets at the J&T Banka Ostrava Open

Photo by Jimmie48 Photography / WTA

OSTRAVA, Czech Republic – Maria Sakkari is in her third Premier quarter-final of the season after knocking down seed Elina Svitolina in straight sets at the J&T Banka Ostrava Open

After defeating favorite Kristyna Pliskova in her opener, Sakkari faced her third career encounter with Svitolina’s No1 seed.The Greek player perfected Svitolina’s second serve and was rewarded with five breaks as ‘she beat 32 winners en route to a 6-3, 6-3 victory

« Obviously winning [against] a player like Elina, the way I played, I think it made me most happy today, » Sakkari said at her press conference. post-match « I think playing like that gives me a lot of confidence And of course getting another Top 5 win is very important to me »

The victory allows Sakkari to advance to his third quarter-final of 2020 after staging deep races in St Petersburg and the Western & Southern Open, and marks his fourth career victory against a Top 5 player

“At the start of my career, people told me I couldn’t play indoors,” Sakkari recalls with a smile. “I think it was a big mistake to listen to them. Now I ‘ve proved myself: I reached an indoor semi-final, I beat very good players indoors in St Petersburg and here

« I developed my game in such a way that I could also be dangerous on the inside My serve is important and I play a little more aggressively So I’m super happy, I proved these people wrong »

Sakkari showed all of these new indoor hard-core prowess in his second round clash with Svitolina, taking a 3-0 lead, double break Although Svitolina’s solid play is generally stingy with unforced errors, today, the Ukrainian missed 22 times in both sets, allowing her opponent to take control

Svitolina hit back to grab one of the breaks and bring the score to 3-1, staying within easy reach of Sakkari But the Greek player remained aggressive and attacked the second serve, earning two more break chances at 4-3 before finally converting a third to win the set, 6-3

The seed turned the tables in the second set, taking advantage of a provisional service match for Sakkari to score his first lead of the game at 2-1 But Sakkari showed his courage in a fourth marathon match , fighting to tie four times and needing three break opportunities to tie the score at 2-2 Sakkari regained control late in the set as she leveled up to break again to 5-3, sealing the victory after an hour and 16 minutes

“I think I started really well, I knew exactly what to do and executed it well,” Sakkari said “I mean, that’s what [my trainer] Tom [ Hill] really said, « I have nothing to say about this game »

« Okay, maybe some moments in this game could have been better, but overall I think my serve, my returns, my groundstrokes from the baseline « 

In the quarter-finals, Sakkari will wait for the winner between Ons Jabeur or the wildcard Jelana Ostapenko The former Roland-Garros champion did the quick job of Non5 seeded Petra Martic, 6-3, 6-1 earlier during the day to move forward

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Maria Sakkari, Elina Svitolina, Women’s Tennis, Tennis Association