Maria Sakkari barely broke sweat as she got Greece’s United Cup campaign off to a flying start with a relentless straight-sets victory over Chile’s Daniela Seguel.
World No.8 Sakkari took just 26 minutes to wrap up the first set in Tuesday’s morning session at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena.
Seguel showed some resistance early in the second set but the gulf between the world No.571 and Sakkari was abundantly clear as the Greek star kept her foot on the gas to claim a 6-0 6-1 victory.
“I don’t feel match sharp but I feel good,” Sakkari said.
“I’m very happy to have given my team the first point and I have full belief in the team so I’m super excited for what’s coming.”
The last nation to kick off their United Cup campaign, Greece are in Group B with Canada, who defeated Chile 2-1 in their opening clash.
Stefanos Tsitsipas – runner-up at last year’s Australian Open – was set to face Chile’s Nicolas Jarry in the men’s singles rubber later on Tuesday but pulled out at the last minute with an injury concern.
Tsitsipas is struggling with a back issue and was replaced by 19-year-old Stefanos Sakellaridis for the singles rubber.
Later on Tuesday, Novak Djokovic will spearhead Serbia’s charge towards the quarter-finals against Czechia in Perth.
A win in the final Group E tie at RAC Arena would put Team Serbia on collision course with Australia in the last eight after the host nation booked their quarter-final spot with a gutsy win over the US on Monday.
Source: AAP
