Maria Sakkari got her second win over Alizé Cornet this year as she secured her semifinal spot at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open in China, by 7-6(2), 7-5.
The World No.42 had been looking for revenge after the Greek No.1 had eliminated her from the Australian Open earlier in the year.
Cornet broke the Sakkari serve in the second game of the match, but the Greek was not shaken, breaking back twice to take the lead in the first set. She had set points on Cornet’s serve, but the Frenchwoman clawed her way back to hold.
Cornet then fended off more set points on the 22-year-old’s serve, showing tenacity as she kept herself in the first set by breaking serve to level matters at 5-5.
Cornet won three games in a row but Sakkari held to force the tiebreak, and used her momentum to wrap it up 7-2 on her eighth set point.
Currently ranked No.80, Sakkari made it through qualifying to reach the main draw in Wuhan, where she has already beaten fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki and sixteenth seed Elena Vesnina, both in straight sets.
In the tournament’s semifinal, Sakkari will be facing 23-year-old Caroline Garcia from France, ranked No.20 in the world.
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