Maria Sakkari has suffered a heavy defeat in the second round of the Charleston Open, losing to No.3 seed Zheng Qinwen 6-4, 6-1.
The reigning Olympic gold medallist Zheng needed 1 hour and 32 minutes to oust former World No. 3 Sakkari, who made last year’s Charleston semi-finals.
The two have previously met on two occasions (on hard court), with Sakkari having a 2-1 lead over Zheng, but the World No.7 has now equalised the ledger.
Sakkari has seen her ranking slip from No.7 to No.64 in the last 12 months, and she is 6-11 for the year so far.
She was aiming for her first win against a Top 10 opponent in over a year, but she now falls to 0-8 since she beat Coco Gauff at 2024 Indian Wells.
