Australian Open: Sakkari bows out; Keys, Pegula reach quarters
Jessica Pegula on Sunday progressed to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the second successive season. The 21st seeded player reached the last eight after dismantling fifth seed Maria Sakkari of Greece in straight sets 7-6(0), 6-3 on the Margaret Court Arena. Meanwhile, Madison Keys has also qualified for the quarters after recording an upset against eighth seed Paula Badosa.
- Pegula, 27, enjoyed a terrific run in 2021 by reaching the quarter-finals of AO for the first time as an unseeded player.
- Thereafter, she kept bettering her record by cracking into the top 20 in WTA rankings and on Sunday she once again silenced her doubters by knocking out Sakkari in Melbourne.
- The 1-hour and 35-minute victory over Sakkari will taste sweet.
Pegula served six aces as compared to four by Sakkari. Pegula (2) also made fewer double faults than Sakkari (5). Both Pegula (76%) and Sakkari (72%) won almost three-quarters of points on their first serves. However, the American was in better control of the second delivery. She won 69% points on her second serve as compared to 41% won by her rival.
Pegula won her first match against top ten ranked players during the 2021 Australian Open by upsetting Elina Svitolina in the 4th round. Thereafter, she went on to record seven victories against the top ten. Now, she has added one more name in Sakkari.
After denying Sakkari the chance to become the first Greek woman player to reach quarters of the Australian Open, Pegula termed the contest as her "best match of the year." "I thought I returned well, I wanted to put pressure on her serve and I felt I did that. I was trying to be patient and play as smart as I could," she added.
Keys dominated Spanish star Badosa to return to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. She defeated Badosa in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 in 69 minutes to reach the eighth Slam quarter-final of her career. She will next take on Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcikova. Krejcikova progressed to quarters after dispatching former champion Victoria Azarenka in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 at the Rod Laver Arena.
"I'm really happy with how I played today. I think I served a lot better than I did in the last match," she said during the on-court interview. "I think I returned well. I think overall I just started off either neutral or kind of ahead in the point. I had a lot of opportunities to try to move forward," Keys added.
