BEVERLY HILLS, March 31, (THEWILL) – The Miami Open witnessed the most jaw-dropping upset on Wednesday when Greek tennis player, Maria Sakkari, ended Naomi Osaka’s 23-match winning run. It was not just the outcome that was stunning but also the manner in which it happened: a straight-sets victory in the quarter-finals tie.
Ranked number 25 in the world, Sakkari played an incredibly perfect game to breeze through the opening set without dropping a game against the number two player in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking. Sakkari then finished by winning five games in a row to clinch the match 6-0, 6-4.
Sakkari did what no other player had been capable of in over a year, to deal Osaka first defeat since February 2020. And, it is a loss that effectively ends this week’s chance of the Japanese knocking the world number one, the Australian Ashleigh Barty, from her position at the top for now.
Osaka’s performance was off her consistent beat from the first serve. Her shockingly poor display saw her win only eight points in a first set that was over in 21 minutes for a dominant Sakkari 6-love advantage. Osaka’s 12 unforced errors allowed the Greek to break her serve with a dismal first serve percentage of 35 for the Japanese.
Some slight control returned to the Osaka game in the second set and, although Sakkari had a chance to break again in the opening game of the second set, she could not take any of the three chances that presented themselves. Osaka seized the opportunity to propel herself ahead and broke to love. The Japanese then held serve to go 3-0 up in the set.
Both players held to get to 4-1 before the pendulum swung back in Sakkari’s favour. The Greek reeled off five games in a row to earn an astounding victory whilst securing a place for herself in the semi-finals at Miami.
Sakkari next opponent will be either of the Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo or Canadian Bianca Andreescu.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
