WHAT HAPPENED: No. 17 seed Maria Sakkari is into the first US Open quarterfinal of her career, having halted No. 6 seed Bianca Andreescu's 10-match winning streak in New York with a thrilling 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 Labor Day upset in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Andreescu, the 2019 champion, had carried the winning streak into Monday night’s three-hour, 29-minute showdown, which stretched until 2:13 a.m. local time, the latest women’s singles match in tournament history.
“I was prepared for 7-6-in-the-third, but if it comes easier, I’ll take it. I knew it was going to be a very tough match,” said Sakkari, who overcame 43 unforced errors on the night. “She loves this court. She has her best memories here.”
Sakkari, 26, now owns nine Top 20 wins this season, including a 6-4, 6-3 dismissal of No. 10 seed Petra Kvitova in the third round. She reached the semifinals at Roland Garros in June, which remains her best showing at the majors. She’s contesting the US Open with a career-best ranking of No. 18.
The match closely resembled their only other career encounter, a tight semifinal clash earlier this year at the Miami Open, in which Andreescu overcame a 4-2 third-set deficit to prevail, 7-6, 3-6, 7-6.
Three double faults would come back to bite Sakkari in her first service game, as she fell behind 3-love in the opener. The Athenian fought back to level the set at 4-all and eventually force a tiebreak, only to see it slip away, 7-2.
There were four straight service breaks in the second set, which, like the first, was decided in a tiebreak. Down 3-6 in the breaker, Andreescu miraculously saved three set points, but couldn’t fend off a fourth.
Andreescu, 21, took a medical timeout five games into the final set to have her left thigh taped, the physical battle taking its toll. When she returned, her movement was clearly compromised. A backhand pass for 4-3 would give Sakkari her fifth break of the night and all the momentum she would need.
“I was not very brave in the first set, so I had to change that,” Sakkari said. “I really wanted to win. I gave it everything. I told myself to just focus on myself. Sometimes it’s tough when you look at the opponent and if they’re hurt, you can get a little tight. I just focused on my tennis and tried to be brave, go for it. It’s a dream coming true playing a night session here.”
Since raising her maiden Slam trophy at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center two years ago, defeating Serena Williams in the final, Andreescu has battled her body like few others. She sat out all of 2020 due to a knee injury suffered at the 2019 WTA Finals and has since experienced a foot injury, an abdominal strain, and even tested positive for COVID-19.
WHAT IT MEANS: Former US Open finalist (2016) Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic will bring her tournament-best 58 aces into the quarterfinals against Sakkari. Their career head-to-head is deadlocked at 1-1.
“She’s a tough player,” Pliskova said of Sakkari, whom she practiced with just prior to the tournament. “She's a fighter. She’s really improved her game. She’s playing more aggressively than she used to. She’s quite dangerous. I think she’s having a great year, she’s confident. It’s going to be difficult.”
MATCH POINT: The best hard-court results of Sakkari’s career was a runner-up finish at San Jose in 2018.
