Maria Sakkari is on the verge of dropping out of the top-10 rankings for the first time in two and a half years following a devastating loss in Doha. This defeat marks her eighth consecutive loss against opponents ranked in the top-30.
Sakkari, seeded seventh in the tournament, received a bye in the first round. However, her strong start against world No. 28 Linda Noskova quickly unraveled as the 19-year-old Czech staged a remarkable comeback to upset the Greek player with a score of 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-5.
This defeat extends Sakkari’s negative streak against top-30 players, a record-breaking run in her career. According to OptaAce, it is her longest losing streak against such opponents.
Additionally, Sakkari’s exit from the top-10 rankings is imminent as she is set to lose valuable points and drop down the standings on Monday. This will be the first time since September 2021 that she will no longer be ranked within the top-10.
Sakkari started the match impressively, securing consecutive breaks to establish a commanding 4-0 lead. Despite Noskova’s efforts to stage a comeback by breaking Sakkari’s serve in the fifth game and saving two break points in the sixth game, the Greek player managed to maintain her advantage and win the first set.
In the second set, Sakkari continued her dominance by breaking Noskova in the opening game and holding her service games to take a 5-3 lead. However, she faltered when serving for the match in the 10th game and failed to convert a match point on Noskova’s serve in the ninth game.
Noskova capitalized on her opportunities, saving a match point and forcing a second-set tie-break. She quickly gained a 5-0 lead in the tie-break and eventually won the set to force a decisive third set.
The third set remained tightly contested, with no breaks of serve until the 11th game when Noskova broke Sakkari to take a 6-5 lead. With the chance to serve out the match, Noskova successfully closed out the victory, completing an impressive comeback against Sakkari.
According to the Source tennisworldusa.org