Sakkari showed character and reached the quarterfinals

Maria Sakkari (No. 7) beat Arantsa Rous (No. 114) after two hours and 37 minutes with 2:1 sets (3:6, 6:2, 6:3) and qualified for the quarterfinals Sand tournament in Parma.

The Greek tennis player had to qualify for the win as she lost by 1-0 sets, but then she upped her game and claimed the two sets and the win. Sakkari on “8” meets Zanefska (No. 97) from Belgium.

This time her task was even more difficult as her nerves were on edge during the match after two poor refereeing decisions. Nevertheless he succeeded. He showed character, won 11 of the 15 games played after the first set and prevailed.

However, to achieve her second consecutive victory this week in Parma, Maria had to overcome several obstacles. Not just the ones Rous threw at them, but the ones the… umpire threw at them.

A controversial referee call for Sakkari to ‘interfere’ early in the first set (when the score was 1-3) got Maria out of the water, increasing the pressure and… nerves. Losing the 1st play was probably expected when he found himself losing 1-4.

Before the start of the 2nd set, the 27-year-old Greek and world No. 7 irritated the movement of people on the pitch to wet the pitch after a tip from the referee.

Sakkari thought this shouldn’t happen as she herself disagreed and the referee received a clear message from Maria: “Don’t talk to me again, don’t bother me again until the game is over.”

From that point on, the facts of the game changed completely. The No. 1 on the board showed her class, overcame all obstacles on her way and enthusiastically celebrated a psychological victory.

With 59/91 points won behind her serve, Maria finished the match and took advantage of 3/9 break points, as opposed to 1/6 chances for Rous, who couldn’t match Maria’s high pace in sets 2 and 3.