Maria Sakkari reaches Ostrava quarterfinals

Greece's young tennis star Maria Sakkari is through to her third premiere quarterfinal of the season, after defeating world No.5 Elina Svitolina at the J&T Banka Ostrava Open.

Sakkari defeated Svitolina 6-3, 6-3.

“Obviously winning [against] a player like Elina, the way I played, I think that made me the most happy today,” Sakkari said after the match.

“I think playing like this gives me a lot of confidence. And of course, getting another Top 5 win is very important for me," she added.

J&T Banka Ostrava Open Press Conference

The 25-year-old acknowledged the importance of her coach’s advice and was overall happy with her game. “I think I started out really well, knew exactly what I needed to do, and executed it well. I mean, that’s what [my coach] Tom [Hill] really said, ‘I have nothing to say about this match’. Maybe some moments of this match could have been better. But in general, I think my serve, my returns, my groundstrokes from the baseline were quite successful. I was super solid."

“When I was starting my career, I had people telling me that I cannot play indoors... I think it was a big mistake listening to them. Now I proved myself: I have reached a semis indoors, I’ve beaten very good indoor players in St. Petersburg and here [J&T Banka Ostrava Open]...I’ve developed my game in a way that I can now be dangerous indoors as well. My serve is big, and I’m playing a little bit more aggressive. So I’m super happy, I proved these people wrong," she continued.

In the quarterfinal, Sakkari will face the winner  between Ons Jabeur or wildcard Jelana Ostapenko.