Day 3 of the Australian Open in Melbourne was action packed with a number of Greek fan-favourites fighting for their place in the next round of the tournament.
Among those playing were Greek tennis sensation, Maria Sakkari, and Australian doubles team, Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Elsewhere, at the Traralgon Junior International, Greek-Belgian Sofia Kostoula also won the singles title.
Here is The Greek Herald’s wrap up of their matches.
Maria Sakkari through to round three of the Australian Open:
Greek fifth seed, Maria Sakkari, defeated Zheng Qinwen 6-1 6-4 in the second round of the Australia Open, despite a late scare at Margaret Court Arena on Wednesday night.
Zheng started an eventful first game with an ace. Of the 16 points, she hit three winners, forced five errors but also committed four unforced errors.
After Sakkari held from 30-all for 1-1, she took control. Two love holds sandwiched around a more complicated game gave Sakkari the set.
Zheng took a medical timeout at the end of the first.
Sakkari needed to maintain her intensity and did so at 4-2, 15-30, ripping a backhand crosscourt. Up against it, Zheng stepped it up even more, her lasers giving her a break point at 3-5 — and converting — after saving three match points.
Back on serve and with a game point, Sakkari responded by taking the last three points.
“It felt much better than last match,” Sakkari said in a post-match interview, before thanking Greek fans for their support.
“It’s actually my home tournament… I know it sounds weird saying that, but I don’t have a tournament back home. It feels like I’m at home back here.
“We all know that Melbourne has a very large Greek community and I’m very pleased and grateful to have them behind me.”
Sakkari will now face 28th seed Veronika Kudermetova in the third round.
Kokkinakis and Kyrgios off to a winning start in Australian Open doubles:
Excited fans lined up to see Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios in men’s doubles action at the Australian Open on Wednesday and the Aussie duo did not disappoint.
A capacity Court 3 crowd at Melbourne Park were treated to an entertaining first-round clash, as Kokkinakis and Kyrgios defeated fellow Australians Alex Bolt and James McCabe 6-4 6-2.
The Special Ks, as they are affectionately known, served 11 aces and conceded only six points across their nine service games.
Of course, in typical Kyrgios style, there were also plenty of laughs during the 71-minute encounter. For example, before the coin toss, chair umpire Alison Hughes was pressed on the four compatriots’ bicep benchmarks at the gym.
“Do you have any questions gentlemen?” Hughes asked.
“Who do you reckon does the biggest curls out of us here?” Kyrgios replied.
“Oh I’m not going into that,” Hughes laughed.
Kokkinakis and Kyrgios first teamed up at an Australian Open nine years ago in both the boys’ doubles and main draw doubles.
Later that year, the pair teamed up to win the boys’ doubles at Wimbledon and since rejoined forces for the 2015 and 2021 Australian Opens, the latter at which they won their first Grand Slam main draw match together.
“Playing with him is always an experience,” Kokkinakis said ahead of their first-round match on Wednesday.
The duo’s win set a second-round clash against top-seeded Croatians Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic.
Sofia Kostoula wins Traralgon Junior International singles tournament:
Young Greek Bulgarian, Sofia Kostoula, won the singles title at the Traralgon Junior International tournament on Wednesday. The tournament is held in preparation for the Australian Open Junior competition.
In the final match, the 16-year-old prevailed over Canada’s Kalya Cross 6-4, 6-2.
Earlier in the week, Kostoula also eliminated Russia’s Diana Schnaider in the quarterfinals, No. 3 in the world ranking of juniors, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. It also took three sets in the semi-finals to beat Australian Taylah Preston 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
This win was Kostoula’s first ITF J1 title and the most important so far in her career.
Source: Australian Open.
