Greece’s Maria Sakkari has continued her impressive form at the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic upsetting 3rd seed and former world number one Venus Williams 6/4, 7/6 to advance to the Semi Finals in California.
Sakkari got off to a slow start conceding the first three service games to Williams. It looked as if Williams was in full control and would run away with the opening set but with the advice of Sakkari’s coach, Thomas Johansson, her never say die attitude was on hand as she went on to win six of the next seven service games to win the opening set 6/4.
In the second set, Sakkari once again fell behind 3-5 but was able to recover and take the second set to a tie-break in which she dominated winning 7/6(2). Sakkari converted six of her eight breakpoint opportunities and hit 21 winners. The American veteran who held a 2-0 head to head record against Sakkari managed 43 unforced errors throughout the encounter lasting one hour and 43 minutes.
The world number 49 has moved through her first three matches without dropping a set. Sakkari will now face American Danielle Collins, in a battle for a spot in the Final.
Tsitsipas reaches Semi Final in Washington
Greek teenage sensation Stefanos Tsitsipas has advanced to his fourth ATP semi-final of his career after defeating 3rd seed David Goffin 6/3, 6/4 in Washington.
19-year-old Tsitsipas was dominant throughout the encounter, where his power was too much for the world number 11 Goffin to handle. The match was interrupted by a 30-minute delay due to rain but there was no stopping Tsitsipas as he went on to win 86 percent of first serve points and did not get broken on serve throughout the 1 hour and 14-minute encounter. Tsitsipas hit 24 winners and 20 errors, while Goffin delivered 16 winners and had 21 unforced errors. The victory was Tsitsipas' sixth win against Top 20 opponents this season.
He will now face top seed Alexander Zverev in a battle of the ATP Next Gen. There will be plenty of anticipation heading into the Semi-Final with both players regarded as the future of Men’s tennis. Zverev is also the defending Champion in Washington. Tsitsipas has the opportunity to reach his second career ATP final.
The win against Goffin means that Tsitsipas will rise to at least world number 26 when the ATP rankings will be updated on Monday.
