Charleston: Maria Sakkari sees off wildcard to arrange 2R showdown with Zheng Qinwen

Maria Sakkari has been safely by means of to the Charleston second spherical after routing wildcard Marina Stakusic 6-3 6-2 in an hour and a half of play.

The Greek, who debuted on the clay courts of Charleston in 2017, gained at the least a match in every of her first three campaigns on the match and that was additionally the case at present. In opposition to the 126th-ranked Canadian, the previous world No. 3 made a little bit of a gradual begin however rapidly mounted that and nonetheless ended up routinely profitable in two units. 

Now, a really tough second-round activity awaits Sakkari since her subsequent opponent might be No. 3 seed Zheng Qinwen, who had a first-round bye on the match. It will likely be their fourth total assembly and the primary one in a 12 months and a half. The Greek ended on the profitable facet of their 2022 Australian Open and 2023 Doha matches whereas Zheng was victorious of their final conflict on the 2023 Zhengzhou Open.

How Sakkari beat Stakusic to arrange a Zheng matchup?

The Canadian wildcard was truly the participant to make the primary massive transfer after incomes back-to-back breaks and opening a 3-0 lead. Down by a double break, the Greek stayed as cool as ice and responded by profitable the subsequent seven video games to go 6-3 1-0.

Whereas Stakusic managed to get well from an early break down and take a 2-1 lead within the second set, Sakkari rapidly dismissed that by occurring one other massive run and taking the subsequent 5 video games to finish her dominant win.

Prior to now, the Greek former world No. 3 had some robust runs in Charleston, most notably reaching the semifinal final 12 months. She was additionally a quarterfinalist in 2019.

Sakkari is off to a powerful begin to Charleston and she will now hope that the boldness booster she acquired from ousting Stakusic will assist her towards Zheng.