Greece’s Maria Sakkari defeated the Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova 6-4 6-1 to advance to the third round at Wimbledon.
The two had never played against each other before, and it was Bouzkova, a lucky loser ranked 115 in the world, who got an early break to go up 3-2. Nevertheless, Sakkari would break back in the subsequent game and later secure another break to take the first set 6-4. The Greek then cruised through the second set, taking it 6-1 to advance to the third round of Wimbledon for just the second time in her career. Sakkari hit 26 winners and 18 unforced errors in the match, which lasted just over one hour.
Sakkari, the 31st seed, will now take on world number eight Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the third round on Friday. Svitolina defeated Margarita Gasparyan of Russia by retirement, as the Russian got injured and was forced to quit despite holding a one set lead over the Ukrainian. Sakkari and Svitolina have never played against each other before. It should be noted that this is the sixth time in Sakkari’s career that she’s advanced to the third round of a Grand Slam, but she has never been able to make it past that stage.
Sakkari is also competing in the women’s doubles draw here, teaming up with Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic. They will play their first round match tomorrow against the 11th seeded Czech-Slovenian pair of Lucie Hradecka and Andreja Klepac.
Also in action tomorrow will be Cyprus’ Marcos Baghdatis, who is retiring after this tournament. The 2006 semi-finalist will play his second round match against 17th seeded Matteo Berrettini of Italy. The two have never played against each other before.
Watch LIVE GREEK TV including full GREEK SPORTS coverage from AGONASport.com!
