Super Sakkari advances to the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Masters
Greece’s Maria Sakkari advanced to the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Masters after defeating world number nine, Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus 6/7, 6/4, 6/4.
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Sabalenka won the opening set in a tie break as the Greek let five set points slip away. However, Sakkari fought back in the second set, claiming the set 6/4, despite trailing 2/4 earlier in the set. Sakkari completed the comeback victory, after taking the third set 6/4 in two and a half hours of play.
The win means that Sakkari has now won all of her last three matches against Top-10 opponents, with her last two victories against Top-10 players being against Czech Petra Kvitova and Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the past three weeks.
Sakkari will now play Australian world number two, Ashleigh Barty, in the quarter-finals. The Aussie leads the pair’s head-to-head encounters 2:1. Barty claimed the victory in their first ever meeting in Tokyo defeating Sakkari 6/4, 0/6, 6/3 in 2016. Sakkari gained one over Barty at Indian Wells in 2018, winning 6/4, 6/2. Their last meeting was at this year’s Australian Open in the third round, with Barty winning 7/5, 6/1.