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Tatyana Maria at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center
Photo:
IMAGO/Juergen Hasenkopf / IMAGO/Hasenkopf
Tennis player Tatjana Maria missed the start of the US Open in the second round.
The Wimbledon semi-finalist lost 4-6, 6-3, 0-6 to Greek world number three Maria Sakkari on Monday.
35-year-old Maria has never made it past the second lap in nine starts in New York.
The 27-year-old Sakkari meets the winner of the duel Diane Parry (France) against Wang Xiyu (China) in the next round.
For Maria it was the third Grand Slam duel this year against Sakkari.
In her semifinals on grass in Wimbledon, Maria had prevailed in the third round, at the Australian Open at the beginning of the year the Greek won the opening match.
At the US Open in New York, as in Melbourne, hard courts are played.
Maria got off to a dream start in the first two sets.
But Sakkari adapted better and better to the unconventional slice game of the Germans, she became more patient and gave Maria hardly any easy points, especially in the third set.
"It was a good match, the bottom line is that it's okay, even if 0:6 in the last set is a bit too high," said national coach Barbara Rittner at Eurosport.
In the further course of the opening day, Serena Williams is the focus: The 23-time Grand Slam tournament winner is allowed to play Danka Kovinic (Montenegro) in the night session (Tuesday, 1 a.m. CEST, TV: Eurosport) in Arthur Ashe Stadium in front of almost 24,000 fans line up and - maybe one last time - let yourself be celebrated.
Williams wants to end her career at the last Grand Slam tournament of the year (August 29 to September 11).
Thanks to a wildcard, the 40-year-old also plays in doubles with sister Venus.
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