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GreekReporter.comGreek NewsMaria Sakkari Misses Chance to Get to French Open Final

Maria Sakkari Misses Chance to Get to French Open Final

Maria Sakkari
Maria Sakkari. Credit: Roland Garros

Greek tennis champion Maria Sakkari failed to reach the final of the French Open for the first time in her career after losing to Czech Barbora Krejcikova by 2-1 sets on Thursday.

After a titanic battle that lasted more than three hours, Sakkari came back from a set to love down to level the game, but succumbed to her opponent in the final set.

It was an amazing two weeks for Sakkari, who became the first Greek woman to appear in a semifinal of a Grand Slam.

The two players battled in the first set where Krejcikova broke Sakkari’s serve four times, to win 7-5. The Greek tennis star made a series of mistakes that were capitalized on by her opponent.

“Someone is screaming at me!” Maria Sakkari protested to the umpire in a fairly lengthy exchange. The 17th seed, who told the umpire that she had mentioned this issue to him already in the first set, displayed her unhappiness with the situation after planting a forehand into the net to squander a break point at 4-2 up against Barbora Krejcikova.

In the second set, Sakkari game back strong winning the first four games. Despite losing four games in a row, she eventually won the set 6-4.

In the decider, Krejcikova fought back to win the set 9-7.

Sakkari reached the French Open semifinals on Wednesday after an impressive performance against last year’s winner Iga Swiatek.

She won in straight sets, 2-0 (6-4, 6-4) and confirmed her stature among the leading ladies of world tennis.

Sakkari beat Elise Mertens and Sofia Kenin en route to the semis in Paris.

On Monday, the Greek player’s 6-1 6-3 demolition of last year’s runner-up Sofia Kenin secured her place in the last eight and prior to that, she had dismissed the 14th seed, Elise Mertens, in the third round.

Sakkari’s progression into the last-four club at a Grand Slam has been a fairly long time coming. This year’s French Open is her 21st appearance in a main draw of a Slam and her previous best was reaching the fourth round at last year’s Australian Open and US Open.

Maria Sakkari’s Unique Accomplishments for Greek Tennis

On May 17, 2021, she reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 18. Her best WTA doubles ranking is 169, achieved on September 9, 2019.

Sakkari has won one singles title on the WTA Tour, at the 2019 Morocco Open, where she defeated Johanna Konta in the final.

Last September, Sakkari cruised over No.22 seed Amanda Anisimova after only 55 minutes to book a place in the fourth round of the US Open.

The No.15 seed won in rapid fashion by a score of 6-3, 6-1 and became the first Greek woman to reach the second week in Flushing Meadows since Eleni Daniilidou in 2004.

In 2020, Sakkari reached the round of 16 at both the Australian Open and US Open, her best Grand Slam performance so far.

The Greek tennis champion is known for her aggressive, all-court style of play, centered around her strong serve and powerful groundstrokes. Sakkari served the sixth most aces of any player in 2020, with 144 aces served in 31 matches.

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