Fourth seed Kenin dumped out of French Open by Sakkari
Fourth seed Kenin dumped out of French Open by Sakkari
PARIS (AFP) - Greece s Maria Sakkari demolished last year s French Open runner-up Sofia Kenin 6-1, 6-3 on Monday to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time.
The world number 18 needed just 68 minutes to defeat the fourth-seeded American and set up a clash with reigning champion Iga Swiatek or Ukrainian teenager Marta Kostyuk for a place in the last four.
Sakkari broke Kenin six times as the 2020 Australian Open winner committed 32 unforced errors and served nine double faults.
"I m speechless. I love Paris. I m having a great time and I don t want to leave anytime soon," said Sakkari, who reached the last 16 in Melbourne and New York last year.
"I m actually enjoying myself, that s the most important thing. I m not actually torturing myself when I m on court."
The win over Kenin was Sakkari s third win over a top-five player this season. It also left eighth seed Swiatek as the highest-ranked player left in the women s draw.
"The match before yesterday gave me a lot of confidence," said Sakkari, who beat 14th seed Elise Mertens in three sets in the previous round.
"I played really good tennis and so today I was really ready for a battle."
