Elena Rybakina had a chance to seal Kazakhstan’s victory over Greece and she didn’t fail to deliver after ousting Maria Sakkari 6-4 6-3 at the United Cup.
On Monday, world No. 78 Alexander Shevchenko upset Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 7-6 (0) in the opening match of the Kazakhstan and Greece tie.
The shock win put the Kazakhs in pole position and their top-ranked female tennis player handled the business in the following match to put their nation to a 2-0 record and secure the top place in Group C in Perth.
During the match, Rybakina fired seven aces and also realized three of eight of her break point chances.
Previously, the world No. 6 beat Span’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro on Thursday 6-2 6-3.
Elena Rybakina© United Cup/X – Fair Use
One big run of seven consecutive games did the job for Rybakina against Sakkari
The first to have a break point was the Greek tennis star – but she didn’t manage to convert it in the opening game of the match.
With the Kazakh leading 5-4 and the former world No. 3 serving to stay in the first set, the 2022 Wimbledon champion got her first break point of the match – which at the same time was the first set point – and realized it to bag the opener.
After losing the last two games of the first set and dropping the opener in a devastating way, Sakkari also suffered back-to-back breaks to start the second set and found herself 5-0 down.
Down by a set and two breaks, the Greek ended her seven-game losing run by winning the next three games.
But she didn’t have enough for a full comeback as Rybakina served out for the match in her second attempt in the ninth game.
Now, the 25-year-old has a 4-1 head-to-head record against Sakkari.
Tennis World USA