Greek tennis star and No.3 seed, Maria Sakkari, stormed into the US Open second round on Tuesday morning with an emphatic 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 win over Tatjana Maria of Germany.
It was anything but plain sailing for Sakkari though as she went 4-1 down to Maria in the first set and looked to be in early trouble against the German.
But it didn’t take long for Sakkari to dial in and gain better control of her aggressive brand of tennis, as she reeled off the next five games to claim the first set.
The second set played out identical to the first, with Maria jumping out to another 4-1 lead. This time, Sakkari committed six double faults in the set and allowed Maria to take the set and force a third.
With coaching now acceptable at the US Open, Sakkari took a few tips from her coach and cruised through the final frame, holding off Maria to sweep all six games and book a spot in the second round.
Sakkari, who made the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows in 2021, will next meet Diane Parry or Xiy Wang.
Source: US Open.