Sakkari powers into Madrid semi-final and Sabalenka rematch
Maria Sakkari won against Irina-Camelia Begu 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2 on Tuesday evening and will play Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed, in the next round
Maria Sakkari 2023 Madrid Open | AI / Reuters / Panoramic
Greek Maria Sakkari powered into her second 1000-level semi-final of 2023 with a comeback win on Tuesday at the Madrid Open. The No 9 seed defeated Romanias Irina-Camelia Begu, the No 31 seed, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2 to reach her first semi-final at Madrid.
Sakkari, who improves to 19-8 on the season, will play Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed, next.
The pair met in the semi-finals at Indian Wells, with Sabalenka winning in straight sets. Sabalenka holds the 5-3 edge over Sakkari overall, but the pair have yet to meet on clay.
Earlier in the tournament, the Greek won against Dutch qualifier Arantxa Rus (6-4, 6-4), Spanish wildcard Rebeka Masarova (3-6, 6-3, 6-3) and Spaniard Paula Badosa, the No 26 seed (6-4, 6-4).
Begu, ranked No 35, won against Czech Karolina Muchova (6-4, 7-5), American Shelby Rogers, the No 33 seed (7-5, 6-2) and Russian Liudmila Samsonova, the No 14 seed (6-4, 6-4) in the previous rounds of the Madrid tournament.
Madrid WTA 1000, other last 8 results (Caja Magica, clay, USD 7.652.174, most recent results first):
- Iga Swiatek vs. Petra Martic
- Jessica Pegula vs. Veronika Kudermetova
- Aryna Sabalenka beat Mayar Sherif: 2-6, 6-2, 6-1
People in this post
More tennis news
“Full power? I think so”: Alcaraz sweeps Paul aside to storm into the US Open quarterfinals
Noskova gives up two match points against Kostyuk and reaches her first US Open quarterfinal anyway
Sabalenka survives seven breaks of serve against Townsend to reach a sixth straight US Open quarterfinal
One-handed backhand: Tsitsipas has a 149-year “streak to save”, and Shelton is standing in front of it
Tien battles, Zverev cruises, Gea surprises: the 2026 US Open men’s fourth round is set
