Sakkari holds off Mertens to clinch Perth City Finals spot for Greece

Brisbane, Jan 3 : Maria Sakkari sealed a Perth City Finals place for Greece at the United Cup a 6-1, 7-5 defeat of Elise Mertens in one hour and 23 minutes.

Greece required only two points from the final tie of Group A to advance, and Sakkaris win backed up compatriot Stefanos Tsitsipas defeat of David Goffin on the previous day, reports unitedcup.com.

Sakkari and Mertens brought one of the longest-standing rivalries of the competition into this pivotal match.The two 1995-born peers have been squaring off since their days in ITF 10Ks back in 2014, and this was the 10th time they had met in pro action.Its a head-to-head that has been swinging Sakkaris way in recent years, and the WTA No.6 underlined that with her most straightforward scoreline of the series so far — the first time that she has required neither a third set nor a tiebreak to defeat Mertens.The result is Sakkaris third win in a row over the Belgian and extends her overall lead to 6-4.Sakkari was broken in the opening game, misjudging a Mertens lob that landed inside the baseline, but shook that slow start off to dominate the first set-and-a-half.She broke back immediately courtesy of a pair of loose Mertens forehands and reeled off 20 of the next 26 points to win a one-sided opener.

Mertens would struggle with her accuracy throughout, racking up 32 unforced errors as well as four ill-timed double faults.Indeed, she trailed 6-1, 3-1 before holding for the first time.Though the WTA No.29 staged a brief fightback, winning three straight games from 4-2 down in the second set, it wasnt enough to deny Sakkari.The Greek player delivered a watertight performance, committing only 11 unforced errors while remaining aggressive on her backhand side in particular.

With the threat of a third set looming, she responded with aplomb to take 12 of the next 13 points to quickly wrap up the match.Greece will next face the winner of the final Group F tie between France and Croatia in the City Finals.

"It was a very solid match from my side," said Sakkari."Obviously I was nervous in the beginning because I knew my match was crucial, but I managed to play a good game, even though in some moments it wasnt pretty.

Im very happy I was able to get us through the group stages." cs #Sakkari #Mertens #clinch #Perth #spot #Greece David #Jan.