December 10, 2024

Valley Post

Read Latest News on Sports, Business, Entertainment, Blogs and Opinions from leading columnists.

Sakkari 2-1: Defeat for Maria after a great battle

Sakkari 2-1: Defeat for Maria after a great battle

WTA Finals



Maria Saccari
2023 AP Photo/Andy Wong

Maria Sakkari fought for almost two and a half hours against Elena Rybakina, but lost 2-1 after a thrilling match and was eliminated in the semifinals of the WTA Finals.

Maria Sakkari pulled off a huge upset against Elena Rybakina. In the end, the athlete from Kazakhstan won 2-1 in a battle that lasted about 2.5 hours.

After this defeat, Sakkari no longer has any hope of qualifying for the top four, as the fourth seed in the world rankings was given the second ticket from the group against Sambalenka.

Jessica Pegula has already earned the top ticket with her win over Sabalenka, who will be Sakkari’s third opponent at the WTA Finals.

the match: The first group is not particularly amenable to criticism. Maria Sakkari made many unforced errors in an attempt to make things difficult for her opponent, as she missed the finish line several times and made her opponent’s life easier.

Rybakina took advantage of all the mistakes of the 28-year-old Greek player, presented her own game with deep shots and easily reached the set 1-0 with a score of 6-0.


Tennis

The second set was a completely different story. Sakkari was able to get some of the powerful shots she was looking for in the first set and couldn’t find, holding serve, erasing three break points, and so the tennis players were led to a tie-break.

There, it was Rybakina who made the small break first, but Sakkari quickly recovered it. The Kazakh athlete made another short break, but the continuity was for Sakkari, who finished the second set 7-6 (4) and sent the match to the third set.

Sakkari, who was at an emotional peak, tried to break serve in the first game, but Rybakina held on and erased the 28-year-old Greek’s triple break point.

It was the world number four who finally broke through the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. However, Sack responded with the same coin with a fraction.

The two gymnasts settled their differences once again in the tie-break only this time it was Elena Rybakina who smiled and won 7-6 (2).


See also  AEK - Paulo Fernandez: Revolution with Fernandez and AEK -... - Sportdog.gr - Sports News | News