New York, Aug 30 : No.17 seed Caroline Garcia opened her 2022 US Open campaign with a 6-1, 6-4 win against a lucky loser Kamilla Rakhimova.Maria Sakkari survived a scare when she advanced with three sets victory in the first singles match for women here.The following Monday, Sakkari returned the arena where she destroyed the 2021 US Open wom’n’s draw, riding high of an incredible season in which she managed to make the Top 10 for the first time in her career.She was determined to alter the story.She started her 2022 campaign with an impressive 7-6 3-3, 6-0 victory against Tatjana Maria of Germany.
In the early stages, a knee-high volley from midcourt took Rakhimova by surprise and her position and play on return was extremely aggressive.Sprinkle in winners from each wing, and 10 consecutive points and it was enough for the Frenchwoman to take a 4-0 lead in the first.
At this moment, Garcia was serving superbly with two holds that he loved.It took 18 minutes to get Rakhimova to win the game but it was absolute supremacy from Garcia.
A Ace at 5-2 was declared not allowed by umpire James Keothavong, but Garcia did not hear the decision and reacted with joy after securing an advantage of a set.The baseline was returned to take two, another well-constructed point and Garcia was able to secure a 6-2 lead.
The power play, the transition up the court as well as the net play were all about the song, as the pressure took over the world’s The world was not in the right place.90.At 22-2, Garcia connected with a backhand return at the stretch, and she read her opponent’s reaction and hit an forehand for an important break.
With a deficit of 15-30 in the following game, Garcia stood firm in an intense rally, soaring forward to snuff out an unforgiving volley and cut off any chance of an eventual comeback.
A solid hold sealed the victory, triggering the infamous “Fly with Caro” celebration.
In 2021, Sakkari played in a lights-out tennis tournament to the semifinals but it wasn’t enough to overcome the trend of teen tennis that took over of the tournament last year.
One win short of her first major final, the dream of becoming a world champion ended abruptly when she lost to eventual champion Emma Raducanu in straight sets she was left in shock and searching for answers to what was wrong.
The win was huge for the No.3 seed not just to keep his place in the draw, but also because vengeance is sweet.The last time the two players played was in the summer of Wimbledon in which Sakkari was beaten to the then-No.100 Maria in the third round.Monday’s win evened their scorecard to 2-2 head-to head.
Maria utilized a range of slices to stifle the speed of the rally early in the game and neutralize Sakkari’s main weapon.Within 10 minutes of play the German was leading 4-1.However, it didn’t take too long for Sakkari to settle in and become more in control of her aggressive style of tennis and she played the next five games to win the opening set as per an article on the official site.
The second set went similar to the first set, with Maria jumping out to a 4-1 advantage.
This time it was Sakkari’s service issues that slowed her down and she committed six double mistakes in the set, allowing Maria to win the set and make the third.
With coaching now accepted in the US Open, Sakkari took some tips from her coach.
She breezed through the final game and held off Maria to win all six games and earn the right to play in the second round.
BSK
