US OPEN – Ladies’ Singles: Maria Sakkari extinguished Karolina Pliskova

Maria Sakkari takes a liking to it. She, who had never yet passed the round of 16 in a Grand Slam, had taken a big step forward during the last Roland-Garros by reaching the semi-finals. This US Open is the confirmation for the Greek, which we will find again in the last four. It was not Karolina Pliskova who could prevent it. The Czech, totally spectator of her match, logically lost in two sets (6-4, 6-4) Wednesday night on the Arthur-Ashe court.

Maria Sakkari was down 0-30 on her first serve. After which she won … 22 ranking points on her face-off. The 18th player in the world finished this quarter-final with incredible statistics in this sector: 92% of points won behind her first ball (23 out of 25! ) and 74% on his second serve. Figures that say as much about his performance as about the non-existence of his opponent.

Pliskova sans solution

A quick break in the first set, from the third game, then another 3-3 in the second set and voila. Karolina Pliskova, clearly dominated in the exchange, never seemed able to find the solution to the Sakkari problem. To tell the truth, she did not even give the feeling of looking for one. The quality of her first ball allowed her to avoid a more severe score, but, clearly, she was very far from the score in this match where the recent Wimbledon finalist will have suffered permanently.

In Paris, for her grand premiere in the semifinals of a Major, Maria Sakkari had fought against Barbora Krejcikova an epic battle of more than three and a quarter hours. but it was a heartbreak for the Greek, who was beaten 9-7 in the third set after getting a match ball. She will have the opportunity on Thursday to clear or at least alleviate that pain by hoisting herself for the first time in the final. Her opponent’s pedigree is even less impressive than Krejcikova’s when she arrived at Roland Garros, but she will have every interest in being wary of the young Emma Raducanu, incandescent on the court since the start of this tournament.