Another seed fell victim to the upset bug as 28th seed Alize Cornet fell to Greece’s Maria Sakkari 7-5, 4-6, 6-1. Sakkari is in the Round of 32 at a Major for the first time in her career.
Each player would have chances to break in the first set. Cornet was presented with the initial chance in the third game, but a routine forehand miss brought the game back to deuce, with Sakkari eventually holding. The Greek would have three chances of her own in the sixth game, but Cornet would save them all.
Finally, in the eighth game, Sakkari broke when the Frenchwoman sent a backhand long. Cornet would break back and later had 0-40 on Sakkari’s serve, but the Greek saved all three. That seemed to be the turning point when, at 6-5 ahead, Sakkari had three break points and on her third chance, she converted when Cornet’s forehand flew long, giving her a one-set lead.
Cornet gained the upper hand in the second set when she broke in the third game for a 2-1 lead only to see Sakkari peg her back with a break in the sixth game to level at 3-3. The 28th seed would finally take the lead for good when she broke again, this time in the seventh game as Sakkari’s backhand was well wide of the target.
Neither player was threatened again on serve in the set and Cornet closed it out on her second set point, carefully spooning a volley past Sakkari to take it 6-4 and force a deciding third set.
It appeared Cornet would snatch the contest by the scruff of the neck when she broke to open up the third set only to see the feisty Sakkari break back and the set was again even at 1-1. The Greek would take the lead for good when she broke in the fourth game, when a Cornet forehand found the bottom of the net.
Sakkari removed any doubt as to the outcome of the match when she broke again for a 5-1 lead. Now serving for the match, a 20-point battle of a game ensued, in which she saved three break points only to see Cornet save three match points. Finally, Cornet missed a forehand wide and Sakkari had reached the third round.
Her third round opponent will be Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who stunned third seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-2. Sakkari will need to be at her best as she tries to neutralize Lucic-Baroni’s power with her movement and defense. The pressure will be on both as this is a very open match, winnable for either player.
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