Maria Sakkari entered the Australian Open with the right hand. In the first grand slam of the year, the Greek, No. 6 in the world ranking, prevailed 2-0 (6-1, 6-4) against Yue Wan from China (No. 119).
The Greek was superior and showed on the court that her Chinese opponent would not be able to stop her.
In the next round, Sakkari will face 18-year-old Diana Snyder (No.106) from Russia, who prevailed 7-6, 7-5 over Kristina Kutsova (No.272) from Slovakia.
Sakkari directly showed the difference in quality between her and her opponent. She may have lost the first game, with the Chinese defending her serve, but the rest was… a monologue. Maria managed to take a 2-1 lead by breaking in the third game, but found her back against the wall in the next as Wan went to triple break point. The Greek erased it and reached 3-1. In fact, he did not lose a game until the end and with three breaks he won the set (6-1).
In the second set, Wan surprised Sakkari and broke to take a 2-0 lead, as she then held her serve. After the 3-1 in favor of the Chinese, Sakkari reacted and with her own break equalized at 3-3. After 4-4, Sakkari came one breath away from qualification (5-4) and finally won with a break in the last game.
