Maria Sakkari, 8th in the world, beat Alizé Cornet (60th) 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday in the first round of the Berlin grass tournament, taking revenge on the Frenchwoman who eliminated her last week at the same stadium in Nottingham . Less than two weeks from Wimbledon, where she has never passed the third round, the Greek will face in Berlin Aliaksandra Sasnovich (70th) or her Belarusian compatriot Victoria Azarenka (19th).
For her part, Cornet lost this entry week after reaching the semi-finals in Nottingham where she had given in to the Briton Jodie Burrage (131st). The 33-year-old Niçoise will participate for the sixteenth time at Wimbledon where she reached the round of 16 in 2014 and last year. On Wednesday, Sakkari may have benefited from a lack of energy from his opponent (a doctor took his blood pressure at 1-4 in the first set). The Greek served for the first set at 5-2 but let Cornet come back at 5-4 before pocketing the set.
On her way, Sakkari immediately took the face-off from Cornet and, after saving three break points in the next game, flew away irreparably.
