World no. 8, and the number 9 seed, Maria Sakkari of Greece, will take on Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, the world number 70, in the third round of the 2023 Rome Open on Sunday, May 14. Get the live streaming options of this Maria Sakkari v Marketa Vondrousova match along with its preview, head-to-head, and tips here.
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Maria Sakkari v Marketa Vondrousova Head to Head
The pair have never played each other before. This will be the first match between the 27 year old Greek, and the Czech, who is four years younger.
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Sakkari Beats Vondrousova Compatriot
Like her opponent, Sakkari has a good record in Rome, having reached the semi-finals and quarter-finals in the past, and she has been in good form this year, having already reached the last four in two of the four WTA events, including last week in Madrid.
A first round bye meant that she was not called into action before her meeting with another Czech player Barbora Strycova, who is much better known as a doubles player and is currently ranked outside the top 1,000 in the world, after coming out of retirement a year ago.
It was a match that Sakkari was expected to win easily, and she made a bright start, winning the first four games, before Strycova surprised her by recovering one of the breaks she had previously lost.
Sakkari, though, won the next two games to claim the first set.
Strycova had several break opportunities early in the second set, could not take any of them, and found herself two breaks down again.
Once more she was able to claw one of them back, but it was a case of too little too late for the Czech veteran, as Sakkari quickly closed out the match.
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Vondrousova Thrashes Andreescu
Vondrousova, runner-up in the French Open in 2019, has a good record in Rome.
That same year she reached the last eight here, and the following year went one stage better by getting to the semi-finals.
It took her three sets to overcome the Estonian veteran Kai Kanepi in the first round, but her match against the world number 31, Bianca Andreescu could hardly have been more one-sided.
She breezed through the first set in just 23 minutes, breaking the Canadian three times, and dropping just the three points on her own serve.
It was only in the second game of the second set that Andreescu finally got on the board with a service hold.
But that was the only high spot in what was otherwise a bleak occasion for the Canadian, as Vondrousova won the next five games from there to wrap up the match in just 53 minutes.
Sakkari v Vondrousova Prediction and Tip
Despite her having as good a record as Vondrousova in Rome, and her recent record in WTA 1000 events, Sakkari begins as the underdog for this match. That may be based on the ruthless way in which the Czech dealt with the challenge of Andreescu. Certainly if she can reach the same heights again, Sakkari may find it hard to live with her.
Tips:
- Low Risk Tip: Vondrousova to win: 4/7
- Moderate Risk Tip: Over 21.5 games in the match: 1/1
The 2023 WTA Rome Open will be played from May 9 to 21. You can get all the tennis betting news with our tennis betting blog here. Also get rest of the tennis match previews here.
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