Greek tennis player Maria Sakkari qualified for the third round of the strong WTA 1000 hard court tournament in Wuhan (China) with a prize pool of over $4 million. 31-year-old Sakkari showed great character and made a complete turnaround against No. 8 seed Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine) – 4:6, 6:2, 6:2 in two hours and seven minutes of play.
After losing the first set due to a single break, the Greek switched to a higher gear and completely dominated the court, taking 12 of the next 16 games. This ended the participation of the Ukrainian, who had a strong season with semifinals at “Roland Garros“ and “Wimbledon“. In her next match, Sakkari will face the winner of the clash between Mia Pohankova (Slovakia) and China's Siyu Wang (“wild card“).
Surprises and strong performances in the first round
The start of the competition brought a series of dramatic matches and unexpected eliminations of seeded players:
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Ukrainian success: Daria Snigur surprised, eliminating the 14th seed Elise Mertens (Belgium) with 6:4, 7:5. In the second round, Snigur will face Jessica Tien (Indonesia).
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A confident start for the finalist from Paris: 16th seed Maya Khwalinska (Poland) had no problems against Mayar Sherif (Egypt) – 6:3, 6:2, and set up a match with Marie Buzkova (Czech Republic).
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Schneider continues to advance: 11th seed Diana Schneider defeated Katie Boulter (Great Britain) 6:3, 6:1. Her second opponent will be qualifier Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan), who won an almost three-hour thriller against Zeynep Sonmez (Turkey) – 6:7(1), 6:3, 7:5.
More results from the day in Wuhan:
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Elena Ostapenko defeated qualifier Daria Kasatkina (Australia) decisively 6:1, 6:1.
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Hanyu Guo (“wild card“) shocked 12th seed Sorana Curtea (Romania) after a comeback – 1:6, 7:6(8), 7:5.
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Katie Volinec defeated Kimberly Birrell (Australia) 6:7(1), 7:6(3), 6:3.
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Diana Yastremska defeated Cristina Buxa (Spain) – 6:4, 5:7, 6:3.
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Nikola Bartunkova defeated Lili Tager (Austria) 7:6(4), 2:6, 6:1.
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An Li advanced after Camila Osorio (Colombia) retired 6:1, 3:0.