Maria makes third round in Melbourne
World number 23 Maria Sakkari of Greece beat Japanese qualifier Nao Hibino 7-6 6-4 in the second round of the 2020 Australian Open.
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Sakkari had previously never played against Hibino, the world number 103. The Greek raced out to a 5-2 lead in the first set, but Hibino fought back to level the score at 5-5. The set ultimately went to a tiebreak, as Sakkari was unable to convert on any of her three set points. Sakkari then won the tiebreak 7-4 to take the opening set.
In the second set, the Greek went up 2-0, but Hibino then won the next three games to go up 3-2 herself. Sakkari would ultimately break to go up 5-4, and then serve the match out in the subsequent game to take the match 7-6 6-4.
Sakkari has now advanced to the third round of the Australian Open for the third time in her career, after previously doing so in both 2017 and 2019. She will now face either world number 11 Madison Keys of the United States, or world number 93 Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands. Sakkari won her only previous meeting against Rus, and has never played against Keys.
