Maria Sakkari was eliminated from this year’s US Open tennis tournament.
The 31-year-old Greek star lost in a comeback, 1-2 in sets (6-1, 6-7, 2-6) to Ukraine’s Yulia Starodubtseva in the second round of the American Grand Slam and was eliminated from the “32” of the tournament, having dropped three games in the second set that could have secured her victory and advancement, after which she collapsed in the third set.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Tsitsipas Makes His Debut in Shanghai with an Eye on the Restart
The match lasted 2 hours and 42 minutes.
Playing exceptional tennis in the first set, Sakkari came back from a 1-4 deficit in the second set, but in the tenth game she squandered three match points and lost the set in a tiebreak.
The Greek star finished the match with more than twice as many points (36 to 17), committed just nine more unforced errors (39-30), hit seven aces, while the Ukrainian had none, yet still managed to be eliminated.
In the third set, Starontubcheva started with a break and, with a love game, took a 2-0 lead. Sakkari faced a double break point but managed to hold her serve and cut the deficit to 2-1.
However, in the fifth game, she conceded a double break to Starodubtseva, who pulled ahead 4-1.
In the next game, Sakkari missed two break points, with the Ukrainian taking a 5-1 lead. The Greek star narrowed the gap to 5-2, but Starodubtseva closed out the set at 6-2.
