No.5 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece booked a spot in the Mutua Madrid Open Round of 16 on Saturday, ending the seven-match winning streak of American Sloane Stephens with a 6-1, 6-3 victory.
In a clash between former Madrid semifinalists (Sakkari last year and Stephens in 2019), Sakkari needed just 63 minutes to ease past World No.33 Stephens. It is Sakkari’s 18th win in her last 19 matches against players ranked outside the Top 30.
Under a closed roof in rainy Madrid, Sakkari improved to 2-0 against 2017 US Open champion Stephens. Sakkari won their previous meeting on the hard courts of Toronto in 2022.
In Saturday’s first set, Sakkari was pristine, hitting only three unforced errors –- her lowest total of unforced errors in an opening set this year. Sakkari broke Stephens in the first game of the second set as well to take a commanding lead.
Former World No.3 Stephens fought back on serve in the next game, as last week’s Rouen champion attempted to keep her winning streak active. But Sakkari reclaimed her break lead at 4-3 after forcing an error long, and the Greek cruised home from there.
More to come…