Monica Puig had another big fight on her hands but came out a winner at the Miami Open Sunday. With the crowd back for the Puerto Rican, she used it to keep focus against Maria Sakkari hitting big on the forehand which led to her 6-4, 7-5 victory on Court One at Crandon Park Tennis Center.
In her first time reaching the third round, the hometown girl had not only new ground to get used to but a new opponent across the court. Her massive upset over Caroline Wozniacki two nights ago had her as a dark horse to win the tournament with her game coming back in fine form. The Greek star had never been this deep in the premier mandatory (prior to Indian Wells this season) but her success at Istanbul and Wuhan over her career give her plenty of confidence to do well like she has having yet to drop a set.
Puig opened scoring with a service hold followed by a return attack that gave her a shot at the break. Sakkari avoided it to hold things after two breaks fighting to hold her line. As the serves continued, Puig showed great strength in her offense landing a game winner with such focus that it nailed the line. She had the fans clapping for her during the changeover which soon led to getting a jumpstart for another break. Sakkari fought back to force deuce once again on serve winning after two breaks.
With the notion of challenging times for the 22-year-old, the Greek needed to sharpen her holds or watch the eventual break arrive in the set. After Puig took the 3-2 lead, Sakkari took a chat with her coach who told her to be ready on the second serve. She took the advice landing an ace on her service game while holding Puig to a single point in the sixth. The Puerto Rican continued to stay out front and by the eighth, she went for it with all her might to come out with the break that gave her a 5-3 hold serving for the set.
Cheers in the crowd began to rise as she achieved set point on deuce. The 24-year-old did it with a shot that went into the net on Sakkari’s return ending nine games in 44 minutes. She finished the first with 11 of 34 points won on the return with both serves at 56 percent. It wasn’t enough to match what Puig had built for herself, stabilizing the forehand and be the frontrunner.
The second set began with Puig breaking the Greek before holding serve. As Puig won a game in the third, the 22-year-old got upset about a call that she felt came late. The umpire’s hands were tied and the call could not be overturned. It seemed to get the best of her as Puig began to dictate the set leading 3-1. Sakkari got back on track winning on serve in the fifth hanging in there with a lot of fight.
Puig regained her two-game margin over Sakkari inching closer to the match. The seventh gave the Puerto Rican her second service break of the set. The errors were becoming too much for Sakkari to handle as she faced elimination with Puig back on serve for a spot in the fourth round. Sakkari showed ferocity while on the edge and stayed alive breaking Puig on serve. She pulled out a very important hold in the ninth that pressured the 24-year-old into delivering the direction that the set takes.
The errors of Puig had her down in the tenth where a force of the set was at hand. She got hold of some luck winning back two break points before it came true for Sakkari that her day on court was not yet over. Every point was key to whoever would conduct wins for themselves and for Sakkari, she wanted nothing but a third set to be in play. The errors were also a factor that allowed Puig into contention. They went to deuce where a couple mistakes were all that was needed for either one. After three breaks, the leverage remained with Puig who captured the break and a second chance to end the match on her own terms.
It was not easy as she wished it to be with Sakkari fighting for a tiebreaker. With a lot of running for returns in the rallies, they went to deuce where Puig had the first AD match point but went long of the baseline. She got a second try at it landing an ace on serve to bring an end to 1 hour and 43 minutes. While her serve dropped in the second set, the 24-year-old got the goal she wanted to prepare for her fourth-round battle against the between Danielle Collins and Donna Vekic Tuesday.
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