A huge victory for Maria Sakkari, who, with an amazing performance, defeated and knocked out the No. 14 seed at Roland Garros (and No. 15 in the world rankings), Elise Mertens, advancing to the fourth round and joining the top 16 players at the French Open, for the first time in her career, as she had previously gone 0-4 in the French capital.
To secure a 2-1 set victory, the Greek champion had to play for nearly three hours (2:53) to overcome the Belgian’s resistance, winning 7-5, 6-7, 6-2. In the next round, Sakkari will face the 2020 Australian Open champion and world No. 5, Sofia Kenin, who today defeated Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in an all-American matchup.
To illustrate the quality of the Greek tennis player’s performance, it suffices to note that she recorded a total of 52 winners (!), and while she could very well have won without dropping a set, she seemed to lose her composure for a moment during the second-set tiebreaker.
After Mertens tied the match, Sakkari put on a tennis masterclass and turned the third set at Simonne Mathieu Court into… a practice session, reaching an exceptionally high level of performance; with 16 out of 22 points won on her serve, she completely dominated the Belgian, not even letting her get close to a break point, while her opponent had two—at 0-0 and 3-1.
In the first set, both players had one break each until 5-5, when the Greek player won the next two games to take a 1-0 lead. Mertens then took the lead twice with breaks (0-1, 3-4), Sakkari responded immediately (1-1, 4-4), coming within two points of victory at 5-4 (leading 30-0), but Mertens’s tiebreaker merely delayed Maria’s march toward victory.
«My little soul knows what was inside me»
The 25-year-old champion therefore focused her comments on the incredible third set against the Belgian player, while praising her next opponent, American Sofia Kenin.
«It was a very special match and quite difficult. Only I know what I went through and what I had inside me. I think in the third set I brought out the best in myself mentally and played the tennis I played,» Sakkari emphasized in her post-match flash interview, which lasted three hours (instead of 7 minutes).
«There were moments when I was “boiling with anger,” but I’ve worked hard on my mental game. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved, and I hope to keep it up,» she continued. As for her next match, against Kenin? «We’ve played each other quite a few times. She didn’t start the year well, but now she’s among the top 10 in the world.».
He added: «I’m going to enjoy today’s victory, and starting tomorrow I’ll begin thinking about the next game. The atmosphere here was great; I even had my own people in the stands.».
PANAGIOTIS KOUMANTAROS
