Maria Sakkari (WTA)
World No. 7 Maria Sakkari takes on world No. 124 Kateryna Baindl in the round of 32 of the Parma Ladies Open 2022 on Monday.
The Greek tennis pro has not had a memorable second half of the season. She managed to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open and followed it up with a run to the final in the St. Petersburg Open. Sakkari continued the good run of form with appearances in the semifinal in the Qatar Open and the final in the Indian Wells Masters. After reaching the Berlin Open semifinal, has been able to string together a couple of wins on only one occasion in 10 matches leading into the Parma Open.
The 27-year-old played was last seen in action at the US Open. She defeated Tatjana Maria in the first round before crashing out in the second to Wang Xiyu.
The Ukrainian qualifier has her task cut out as she prepares to lock horns with Sakkari. Baindl finished runner-up in an ITF event in France and also made it to the semifinal in the Poland Open. The 28-year-old lacked consistency and that halted her progress in several competitions, where she was expected to do well.
Baindl won two qualifying matches to enter the main draw of the competition. In the first qualifier, she came back from a set down to defeat Elsa Jacquemot 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. In the second qualifier, Baindl made light work of Irina Bara and defeated the Romanian 6-0, 6-3.
The head-to-head currently stands at 0-0 as this will be the first meeting between the two players.
Prediction: Maria Sakkari to win in straight sets.
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