Australian Open: Maria Sakkari misplaced 7-6(0), 6-3 to American Jessica Pegula after which former US Open runner up Madison Keys continued her resurgence by beating Spanish eighth seed Paula Badosa 6-3, 6-1. Pegula will play the winner of prime seed Ash Barty and Amanda Anisimova for a spot within the semi-finals. (Reuters Photo)HIGHLIGHTSPegula’s stonewall defence gave her the higher hand in opposition to hard-hitting SakkariKeys has reached the quarter-finals twice earlier than in MelbourneBadosa struggled within the warmth in the course of the second setFifth seed Maria Sakkari was knocked out by Jessica Pegula whereas former US Open runner-up Madison Keys ended eighth seed Paula Badosa’s run on the Australian Open on Sunday. Pegula beat Sakkari 7-6(0), 6-3 whereas Keys received 6-3, 6-1.
Pegula’s stonewall defence left the hard-hitting Sakkari a scorching mess and the American solely grew in confidence because the match went on.After Sakkari crumbled to lose the primary set tiebreak 7-0, Pegula started swinging arduous on the Greek’s serve and was rewarded with an early break within the second.Sakkari battled to avoid wasting a match level as Pegula served out however despatched a defensive backhand large to concede the match.Keys, who has slipped to 51st on this planet rankings, booked her place within the final eight of a Grand Slam for the primary time for the reason that 2019 French Open with a complete win over the Spaniard.The former World No.7 has reached the quarter-finals twice earlier than in Melbourne, defeating Venus Williams to advance to the semis in 2015 however shedding to Angelique Kerber at this stage three years later.The American took management early on Sunday, breaking her opponent in her first service recreation and shutting out the set in 32 minutes having put Badosa’s serve below fixed stress.The gamers traded breaks within the opening two video games of the second set earlier than Keys broke Badosa twice extra because the Spaniard began to wrestle within the warmth.Badosa’s difficulties continued as Keys broke her for a 3rd time within the set to advance to the subsequent spherical, the place she is going to face Barbora Krejcikova following the Czech’s win over Victoria Azarenka.Click right here for IndiaToday.in’s full protection of the coronavirus pandemic.
