Greece’s number 23 seed Maria Sakkari will play Russian qualifier Ludmilla Samsonova in the third round of the 2021 Miami Open on Sunday, March 28. The match is yet to be scheduled. Get the live streaming options of this Maria Sakkari v Ludmilla Samsonova match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Maria Sakkari v Ludmilla Samsonova Head to Head
Sakkari and Samsonova have never played before this.
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Sakkari Routs Rus to Reach 3rd Round
It took 74 minutes for Maria Sakkari to willfully dismiss the challenge of Arantxa Rus 6-2 6-3 in what was one of her best displays of the season. With the win she equaled her best appearance in Miami.
The Greek started the match on the front foot, securing an early break in the third game and consolidating. She continued to thrust the ball with purpose and punctuated the Dutchwoman’s serve again to lead 5-2, before wrapping up the set in her next service game.
The second set panned out in exactly similar fashion, Sakkari breaking in the third game and putting Rus on the rearview mirror. The world no.84 looked second best for most of the evening, failing to fashion a single break on Sakkari’s serve.
The world no.25 won an impressive 88% of first serve points (dropped just three points) and kept Rus sweating in her games (won 12 out of 18 return points).
Sakkari’s brilliance has fluctuated at differing periods in the first three months. After making back-to-back semifinals in the first two tournaments of the year, she was beaten in the first round of the Australian Open. The pattern repeated itself in the Middle East where a quarterfinal showing in Doha was immediately followed by an early exit in Dubai.
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Samsonova Upsets Bertens
Russia’s Ludmilla Samsonova produced the biggest win of the day as she upset struggling Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands. Bertens was the highest-seeded casualty on Friday, as she lost handily 6-2 6-1.
Samsonova is making her tournament debut, and given her recent barren spell of tour level wins, there wasn’t any indication of potential deep run this fortnight. In fact, during the course of the 2020 season, Samsonova won only two main draw matches on tour (Brisbane and Palermo).
The Russian trailed Monica Niculescu 6-2 0-4 in the first round of qualifying before the Romanian was forced to retire through the second set. Samsonova hasn’t dropped a set thereafter, earning her way into the main draw after beating Varvara Gracheva in straight sets.
Her dominance showed no signs of waning as she overcame Camila Giorgi and Kiki Bertens in quick succession, dropping just nine games over the two matches.
Sakkari v Samsonova Prediction and Tip
Samsonova, a qualifier, has been tearing the covers this week. And all indications are that the Russian will prove a much tougher test for Sakkari. But beating a struggling Bertens who is still short on fitness after surgery, and Camila Giorgi – whose matches are determined by headspace – shouldn’t be a barometer to gauge her level against the Greek.
Tip: Sakkari to win: 4/11 (bet365)
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The 2021 Miami Open will be played from March 22 to April 4. You can watch & bet on these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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