Greek tennis ace Maria Sakkari handed a shocking 6-4, 6-4 loss to French Open defending champion Iga Swiatek on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of the event. By beating Swiatek, Sakkari became the first Greek woman to qualify for the semi-final at a Grand Slam event. She would now take on Barbora Krejcikova for a spot in the finals of the tournament. Sakkari’s victory also ensures that it is for the first time that four players would be playing their first semi-finals at a Grand Slam event, the other three being Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Slovenian Tamara Zidanšek and Czech Repubic’s Krejcikova. French Open: Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Daniil Medvedev in straight sets and advance to the semi-final
Talking about the match, Swiatek was on a 22-set unbeaten run before she faced Sakkari. An injury to her right thigh didn’t help her cause for retaining the title. She was dominated by Sakkari as Swiatek found her pace and powerful strokes, too hot to handle.
“I am speechless. It is a dream coming true. It’s a very nice feeling and I could not have done it without my team and their support,” an elated Sakkari said, after the match, adding, “We have a long way to go but we made a huge step today.” Sakkari also became the second Greek to make it to the French Open semi-finals after countryman Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the last four, with a win over Russia’s Daniil Medvedev.
(The above story first appeared on Today News 24 on Jun 09, 2021 09:17 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website todaynews24.top).
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