Valentini Grammatikopoulou will progress through to the second qualifying round of the Australian Open (AO) after defeating American Elvina Kalieva (No.199) 7-5, 6-3 in her qualifying debut today.
It was a good match for the 26-year-old Greek, world No.221, who despite trailing 0-2 and 1-3 in the first set, managed to level the score at 3-3.
From then on, Valentini broke Kalieva’s service game twice in the last three games of the set to turn 4-5 into 7-5.
The second set was also close, but Grammatikopoulou was stronger after the sixth game and managed to make another short but important run, going from 3-3 to 6-3 to close out the match.
According to tennis.gr, Grammatikopoulou will take her next step in the AO tomorrow as she attempts to qualify for the first time in the third qualifying round.
The Greek tennis player’s task will be particularly tough as she is set to face Ukrainian, Dayana Yastremska ranked no. 21 for the tournament and 96 in the world.
Source: tennis.gr
