Miami Open: Bianca Andreescu and Maria Sakkari seek a place in the final

Bianca Andreescu and Maria Sakkari will contest the second semi-final at the Miami Open.

The eighth-seeded Canadian defeated Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo in their quarter-final 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 after two hours and eight minutes of play. Andreescu came from a double-break down in the opening set to get the better of Sorribes Tormo and take the lead in the match. The second set, however, was largely about inconsistent playmaking from both players a little taming of the same by the Spaniard towards its business end. This helped Sorribes Tormo to push the match into the decider. In the deciding set, Andreescu dug deeper into her reserves to outpower her opponent and extend her run into the semi-finals.

After the match, crediting Sorribes Tormo, the 2019 US Open champion said, “She plays very different than most of the players on tour. She's difficult to play because of that. You don't always get the same rhythm. She gets to a lot of balls. That's what I told her at the net. I was, like, ‘Girl, you can run. You're crazy.’ I told her that she played amazing and that we're gonna be seeing a lot of you. She just said, ‘Thank you and good luck.’”

Miami Open: Maria Sakkari downs Naomi Osaka; ready for Bianca Andreescu

Andreescu’s opponent, Sakkari, had come through her quarter-final against the second-seeded Naomi Osaka 6-0, 6-4 earlier in the day session on Wednesday.

Sakkari completely ran Osaka ragged throughout the 69-minute encounter, finishing with over four times as many winners as the Japanese – 22 to five. After losing the opening set, Osaka looked to have regained her momentum as she built a 3-0 lead in the second set but her poise didn’t last long as Sakkari’s shots found their mark once again.

This loss also brought an end to Osaka’s run of 23 consecutive wins dating back to 2020. Back then, she had lost to Sorribes Tormo in Japan’s Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers against Spain, in February.

Speaking to the media after her win, Sakkari said, “I don't think tennis-wise it was like the best tennis I have ever played in my life. I think I executed our strategy with Tom (her coach, Tom Hill) really well. I just did what I had to do. I'm not gonna tell you what. What we discussed before the match, I just did it most of the match, except maybe a couple of games where things didn't go right.”

The contest between Bianca Andreescu and Maria Sakkari at the Miami Open will be their first career meeting against each other.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2PiY1e2