Maria Sakkari defeated Paula Badosa 6-4, 6-4 in the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open, ending hopes of the first Spanish female winner of the tournament. Sakkari watched a match with coach Tom Hill ahead of her match and discussed the importance of staying focused and calm in order to block out the home crowd. Begu, who has lost two of three previous matches to Sakkari, will face her in the quarterfinals, becoming the first player to make it this far in the tournament after defeating Liudmila Samsonova 6-4, 6-4.
Sakkari broke Badosa’s serve early in the first set and maintained the advantage throughout the rest of the match. This is Sakkari’s first quarterfinal appearance in Madrid, and the 10th of her career on clay. Begu has won two of her most recent titles on clay, and although she is lower ranked, her form on the surface makes her a formidable opponent.
Begu is looking forward to the challenge of playing Sakkari, describing her as solid and barely making any mistakes. Sakkari praised Badosa as one of the best players on tour despite her loss and highlighted her friend’s return to form. This year, Badosa came into the tournament as the No.42 seed, managing the wild expectations of home fans and media much better than last year when she was the No.2-ranked player at the event.
