WTA Abu Dhabi: Maria Sakkari also takes Garbine Muguruza out of the tournament
Maria Sakkari continued her successful run at the WTA 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi in the round of 16. The number nine on the seeding list celebrated the third two-set win of the week on Sunday and beat the former world number one Garbine Muguruza 7: 5, 6: 4. Sofia Kenin made it exciting.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Jan 10, 2021, 02:49 pm
It was the 17th victory for Sakkari over a top 20 player. The Greek was the clearly active player, the current number 22 in the world beat 33 winners (eleven of them aces) and turned three out of nine breakballs. Muguruza, on the other hand, only got five winners out of 29 unforced errors. The 25-year-old Sakkari fended off twelve of 13 breakballs against herself.
After the game, Sakkari spoke of aspects of her game that had once "fallen asleep" but were now woken up. "I was a defensive player when I was 20. Now I'm in a position where I can beat one of the most aggressive players on the Tour."
Kenin saves match point
Sakkari now faces number one of the tournament Sofia Kenin. In her match against Yulia Putintseva, the American once again demonstrated her impressive qualities in tight match situations. Kenin fended off a match point in the second set and won 3: 6, 7: 6 (5), 6: 4 after a thrilling 2:41 hours.
Aryna Sabalenka, meanwhile, has celebrated her twelfth win in a row across all seasons. The Belarusian defeated Ons Jabeur 6: 2 6: 4 and thus returned the favor for a defeat at Roland Garros in 2020. That was Sabalenka's last defeat so far.
Her opponent in the quarterfinals is Elena Rybakina, who beat Daria Kasatkina 6: 3, 6: 4. Another quarter-final pairing has already been determined: Sara Sorribes Tormo meets Marta Kostyuk.