Maria Sakkari fought a hard battle as she headed off Shelby Rogers at the BNP Paribas Open in the second round at the year’s second WTA 1000 event.
After a set and a break at 6-2, 2-1 Sakkari achieved seven straight break points to rise back up 2 hours and 4 minutes later.
The No.7 seed won the second set to hold off unseeded Rogers 2-6, 6-4 in a seven-deuce game at 2-2 and held from 0-40 at 4-4.
Rogers called for medical treatment on her right calf while the score was 3-0 in the decider and won just one point in the last three games with Sakkari winning the last nine points to take out the match 2-6, 6-4, 6-0.
The Greek tennis star expressed her relief after winning, admitting her level at the beginning was “nowhere near” her usual performance.
“This stadium is my favourite, the atmosphere, everything is amazing,” Sakkari said.
“I know I put myself in trouble sometimes, but this is how I learn, how I get better. My level is nowhere near where I want it to be, but I’m OK with that and I’m going to work on it every single day in this tournament, and coming back in this match was very important.”
In the third round, Sakkari will face No. 27 seed, Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina who has previously beaten Sakkari on grass in their only match-up, in Eastbourne last year.
“I know that I play my best tennis, when I make a lot of balls, when I’m rock solid from the baseline, when I’m moving extremely well, when my serve is there, and I think that’s what I did at the end of the second set and in the third set,” Sakkari added.
“I’m just very happy that I managed to turn things around, because it’s a very important win for me. There’s a lot of pressure coming into this tournament, but I want to stay here as long as I can until the end.”