Today was the qualification of the “eight” tournament category WTA 1000, held in Madrid. Maria Sakkari.

The 27-year-old World No. 9 champion defeated 25-year-old Spaniard Paula Bandosa (World No. 42) in the round of 16 of the Mutua Madrid Open 6-4, 6-4, after a long match one hour and 28 minutes, and advanced to the quarterfinals. There, Sakkari will meet with 32-year-old Romanian Irina-Camellia Begu (35th in the world ranking), who beat out Russian Lyudmila Samsonova (18th) in the 1/8 finals with a score of 6-4, 6-4.

In the first set, Sakkari and Bandosa held their serve to 3-3. The Greek champion then made a “break” and led 4-3, and immediately after that held her serve 5-3. The Spaniard fell to 5-4 but Sakkari took the set 6-4. The Greek champion started the second set with the best of omens as she broke Bandosa’s serve with… good morning while still holding her serve and leading 2-0. Then the two athletes served their serve, as a result of which Sakkari won the second set with a score of 6-4 and celebrated the victory and reaching the quarterfinals, where the Greek champion is waiting for Irina-Kamelia Begu.

Sakkari and Begu have met three times in the past, with the Greek champions on two wins in games between them. Begu won their first meeting, at the 2016 tournament in Miami, while Saqqara defeated Romania in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Seoul tournament, as well as in the semi-finals of last year’s tournament in St. Petersburg.