(Reuters) – Greece’s Maria Sakkari fired off five aces to make light work of Czech Petra Kvitova 6-3 6-0 in the third round of Indian Wells on Monday.
The world number six won all of her first-serve points in the first set and dropped just one in the second, as Kvitova struggled with her serve, producing five double-faults across the 66-minute affair in California.
Two-times Wimbledon winner Kvitova ceded break point in the eighth game of the first set and never regained her composure, as Sakkari fended off two breaks to close out the frame and ran away with the match in the second set.
“It was a little bit tough for me to get used to her serve,” said Sakkari, who reached the semi-final at Roland-Garros and the U.S. Open last year.
“Once I broke her, I just felt like that’s was the right way to return her serve and I was just very solid from the back of the court.
It was the second time that Sakkari has reached the round of 16 at tennis’ unofficial “fifth major,” after she reached the fourth round in 2018.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
