Maria Sakkari and Petra Martic will take on each other in the semi-final of the 2023 WTA Linz Open on February 11.
Follow Us
Against Donna Vekic in the quarterfinals, Maria Sakkari was in command before getting mired in anxiety. She had a set and 5-3 advantage over the Croat at that point, and she later held a match point in a service game. But in order to eke out a 6-3, 7-6 victory, the top seed ultimately had to save no fewer than five set points, including three in a row. She has faced tiebreaks twice, but she has won all three of her matches so far in her Linz debut in straight sets. After being two points away from a decider, she defeated Nuria Parrizas-resistance, Diaz’s 6-1, 7-6, and eliminated lucky loser Varvara Gracheva, 6-4, 6-2 (saving all six breakpoints) to advance to her first quarterfinal of the year. A startling 15 semifinal matches have been played by the world No. 7 since the year 2021 began. While she struggled in these situations in 2021, going 1-7, she performed much better the year before, going 4-3. She dominated the finals in St. Petersburg, Indian Wells, Parma, and Guadalajara last year, but she hasn’t claimed a championship since May 2019.
Petra Martic exhaled in relief at the thought of not having to play another late-night three-set match. When lucky loser Clara Tauson won five straight games, she was up a set and 4-0. After defeating the Dane 6-4, 7-5, the former top-15 player advanced to her first semifinal at the upper Austrian competition. This is her first performance in Linz since 2013. She competed in this tournament in 2012 and advanced as far as the quarterfinals. The 32-year-old has worked hard after suffering second-round defeats in Melbourne and Lyon. In particular, it took her two hours and 44 minutes to defeat Alison Van Uytvanck on Thursday, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6. She is 1-3 since the beginning of 2020 and has a 5-8 record in semifinals. She won the Lausanne title in July of last year after defeating Caroline Garcia and Belinda Bencic. This was her second victory; her first came in Istanbul in 2019 on clay. She has only played in two hard court finals in her lengthy career, in Kuala Lumpur in 2012 and Zhengzhou in 2019.
| Maria Sakkari | Match details |
|---|---|
| Date | February 11, 2023 |
| Surface | Hard courts |
| Tournament | Linz Open |
| Stage | Semi-finals |
| Time (India) | 7:45 pm |
| Time (Austria) | 3:15 pm |
| Opponent | Score |
|---|---|
| Donna Vekic | 6-3, 7-6 (W) |
| Varvara Gracheva | 6-4, 6-2 (W) |
| Nuria Parizzas-Diaz | 6-1, 7-6 (W) |
| Zhu Lin | 7-6, 1-6, 6-4 (L) |
| Diana Shnaider | 6-3, 5-7, 3-6 (W) |
| Opponent | Score |
|---|---|
| Clara Tauson | 6-4, 7-5 (W) |
| Alison van Uytvanck | 4-6, 7-6, 6-7 (W) |
| Marina Bassols Ribera | 6-1, 7-5 (W) |
| Alycia Parks | 2-6, 7-6, 6-2 (L) |
| Kristina Mladenovic | 6-3, 3-6, 5-7 (W) |
Following victories in straight sets at the 2015 US Open and the United Cup in Perth a few weeks ago, Maria Sakkari has a 2-0 lead. She wants to make it to her eighth final of her career. To put that number in perspective, Petra Martic only had one final to her name when she was the Greek player’s current age of 27.
| Tournament | Winner | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 United Cup | Maria Sakkari | 6-3, 6-3 |
| 2015 US Open | Maria Sakkari | 6-4, 6-4 |
Maria Sakkari and Petra Martic will take on each other in the semi-final of the 2023 WTA Linz Open on February 11.
Australia – bein sports
Canada – TSN
UK – Amazon Prime Video
US – Tennis Channel
All ATP and WTA Tour level matches can be viewed on demand on the Tennis TV website and app.
