WHAT HAPPENED: It was a surprisingly nervy battle between superstar Maria Sakkari and China’s Wang Xiyu, ranked No. 75 in the world. But Wang, the underdog, was able to stage an upset on Wednesday at the 2022 US Open, taking the second-round match, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5.
As the No. 3 seed, the 27-year-old Greek star was the favored player. But Wang won a tricky Round 1 match against French teenager Diane Parry, putting on display her biggest weapon: her lefty serve. Wang threw down 11 aces in that match. But Sakkari has a big serve too, ranking fourth in the WTA Tour's ace race coming into the 2022 US Open.
Sakkari has more experience on Flushing Meadows’ biggest courts as well, playing in the semifinals at the 2021 US Open, where she lost to eventual champion Emma Raducanu.
But if the 21-year-old Wang was nervous stepping into the biggest stage of her adult career—Louis Armstrong Stadium—she didn’t show it. The Chinese player impressed with her court coverage and heavy forehand, although with five double faults (and no aces), her serve was less than stellar. Steady Sakkari took the first set, 6-3.
The second set saw bigger hitting from the Chinese player, who, serving at 5-3, had posted 19 winners to Sakkari’s 13.
“When I have a chance, I’m pushing,” the seemingly frustrated Sakkari could be heard saying on court. “I’m being passive.”
Still, Sakkari scrambled back, only to doublefault on the last point of the second set, giving the win to Wang, 7-5.
The third set was tighter still with the players’ key stats virtually identical. Again, Sakkari stepped up to serve at 5-6. Again, Wang won the game and took the match, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5.
“I’m just trying my best to save every ball,” a breathless Wang said in an on-court interview. “I’m trying and learning.”
WHAT IT MEANS: Next up is a date with the winner of the Round 2 match between American Alison Riske-Amritraj and Colombia’s Camila Osorio, ranked No. 70 in the world.
Riske-Amritraj, the favored player and No. 29 seed, won her first-round match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. But she had a relatively easy draw, playing against newcomer Eleana Yu, ranked No. 763 in the world, another American.
MATCH POINT: Sakkari is her country’s most successful female tennis player ever. Until her loss today, she was also the sole Greek player left in the draw, after the Round 1 exit of compatriot Stefanos Tsitsipas.
