MIAMI: Maria Sakkari swiftly bounced back into her winning rhythm shortly after her defeat in the Indian Wells final, dominating China’s Yuan Yue 6-2 6-2 on Thursday to smoothly advance to the third round of the Miami Open.
While Sakkari cruised through, it was a strenuous journey for Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, the fourth seed, who had to battle intensely to overcome determined Danish qualifier Clara Tauson 3-6 7-5 6-4 in an almost empty Hard Rock stadium.
After an exchange of sets in a gritty contest, the 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina finally gained control with a crucial break to edge ahead 3-2 in the third set, maintaining her lead till the end.
Putting the recent 6-4 6-0 loss to world number one Iga Swiatek in the Indian Wells final behind her, Sakkari approached the match with a focused demeanor, aiming to overcome her previous early exits in Miami.
Following her triumph in Austin last month and a solid quarter-final performance in Indian Wells, Yuan posed as a potentially challenging opponent for the eighth-seeded Greek player.
However, Sakkari displayed a stellar performance, breaking her Chinese counterpart five times during the 79-minute encounter.
In other second-round action, Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina staged an impressive comeback, saving a match point and rallying from a set down to defeat former-world number one Caroline Wozniacki 5-7 7-5 6-4.
Facing a 2-5 deficit in the second set, Kalinina fought fiercely, breaking Wozniacki’s serve as she served for the match, and then, despite facing a match point on her own serve, she delivered a fearless forehand winner to narrow the score to 5-4, keeping her hopes alive.
