Sports

US Open 2022: Maria Sakkari survives scare in 1st round, Roberto Bautista-Agut knocked out

August 29, 2022
Bharat Times

US Open 2022: While 3rd seed Maria Sakkari survived a scare in the opening round, 23-year-old American JJ Wolf knocked out 16th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the men’s singles first round on Monday, August 29.

US Open: 3rd seed Maria Sakkari survives scare in opening round (AP Photo)

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Maria Sakkari defeated Tatjana Maria 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 in women’s singles Round 1
  • 16th seed Bautista Agut shown the door in men’s singles Round 1
  • JJ Wolf of the USA clinched his first top 20 win

World No. 3 women’s singles star Maria Sakkari survived a scare in the opening round of US Open 2022 against veteran Tatjana Maria of Germany on Monday, August 29. Sakkari bageled Maria in the deciding set but she was made to work hard for her win.

Maria Sakkari got the job done 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 against Tatjana Maria to progress to the 2nd round. It was a sweet revenge for Sakkari as Maria had ousted her from Wimbledon 2022 earlier this year. The 35-year-old achieved her career-best Grand Slam result when she reached the semi-final in London but she was not able to get past the 3rd seed in New York on Monday.

Also reaching the second round were Caroline Garcia who beat Kamilla Rakhimova 6-2 6-4 and Veronika Kudermetova after her 7-5 6-3 victory over Donna Vekic.

AGUT OUSTED, FOKINA INTO 2nd ROUND

Meanwhile, 16th seed Roberto Bautisa Agut was shown the door as early as the first round after he lost 4-6, 4-6, 4-6 to World No. 87 JJ Wolf of the USA. It was a shock exit for the Spaniard, who is No. 18 on the ATP charts.

It was the first top-20 win on the tour for the 23-year-old American who was rallied on by the local crowd.

Bautista Agut was in decent form in the lead-up to the US Open, reaching the pre-quarterfinals in the Masters 1000 tournaments in Cincinnati and Montreal. The veteran Spaniard had also won an ATP 250 clay-court title in Austria.

However, World No. 39 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina progressed to the men’s singles 2nd round after a comfortable straight-sets win over Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan. The 23-year-old defeated Nishioka 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.

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