Ninth seed Maria Sakkari admits that she was unhappy with her latest performance after battling her way into the fourth round of the Madrid Open.
Sakkari required almost two-and-a-half hours to defeat Spain’s Rebeka Masarova 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, in a late-night match that didn’t end until the early hours of Sunday morning. The Greek faced a total of 20 break points but managed to save 17 of those. Overall she won 58% of her service points to avoid suffering a second loss to a player ranked outside the top 70 this season.
Following her latest win, the 27-year-old stated that she needs to elevate her game in order to have a chance of beating a higher-ranked opponent in the tournament. Sakkari is looking to get herself back on track in the Spanish capital after suffering early exits in both Miami and Stuttgart. Earlier in the season, she reached the semi-final stage of three tournaments, including Indian Wells.
“I’m not too happy about the way I played, it was survival,” she told SDNA about her latest performance. “The most important thing is that I found a way, but I have to improve my game for the next matches, it will not be enough for the next opponents. I have to go back to training tomorrow and try to find my game.”
Sakkari will face a resurgent Paula Badosa for a place in the quarter-finals in Madrid. Badosa dropped only three games in her 6-3, 6-0, win over Coco Gauff in the second round. The Spaniard has also defeated Daria Kasatkina in Charleston and took a set off Aryna Sabalenka in Stuttgart.
“She is one of the best players in the world. She plays at home, she plays very well,” Sakkari commented. “She’s motivated and that’s normal when you’re playing in a tournament in your country. From now on the matches will be more and more difficult, I expect a tough match”.
The two are currently tied 1-1 in their head-to-head with Sakkari winning their most recent meeting in three sets at Indian Wells last year. Badosa won their encounter at the 2021 WTA Finals in Mexico.
“Maria, she’s a very good player, very intense,” Badosa told reporters on Saturday. “I really love how she competes. I like players that give their all on the court, and they go for it no matter what, so I respect these kinds of players.“
Sakkari is bidding to reach the quarter-finals in Madrid for the first time in her career.
