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Kristina Mladenovic of France plays a backhand during ladies singles Quarter Finals match against Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland on day ten of the 2017 French Open at Roland Garros on June 6, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

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Kristina Mladenovic of France plays a backhand during ladies singles Quarter Finals match against Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland on day ten of the 2017 French Open at Roland Garros on June 6, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)
In the first round of the 2021 Australian Open, Maria Sakkari faced off against Kristina Mladenovic. Considering both players are talented, fans were expecting a tough match, and they were not disappointed. In the end, Mladenovic was victorious, winning 6-2, 0-6, 6-3.
Maria Sakkari vs Kristina Mladenovic: The First Set
In the first set of the match, Kristina started off very well by breaking Sakkari’s service. The Greek star did manage to break back, but unfortunately, was broken again. This time, Mladenovic did not let go of the advantage and held her serve for a 5-2 lead.
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To close out the set 6-2, Kristina broke Maria once more. It was clearly not a good start for Sakkari, who had to play a lot better in the second set if she were to have any chance of stretching the match to the deciding set.

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Kristina Mladenovic of France celebrates victory during her round of 32 match against Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic during day three of the Nature Valley Classic at Edgbaston Priory Club on June 18, 2018 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images for LTA)
The Second Set
The second set was very important for Maria Sakkari, and she started it incredibly well. She broke Mladenovic in the very first game and she went on to break her again to take a commanding 4-0 lead.
At this point, Kristina was trying to hold her serve to avoid a bagel, but she did not succeed. Maria broke her for the third time and held her serve to win the second set 6-0. This was the best possible comeback, and Sakkari was looking good to win the match.
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MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 06: Maria Sakkari of Greece plays a forehand in her Quarter Fnal match against Angelique Kerber of Germany during day four of the WTA 500 Grampians Trophy at Melbourne Park on February 06, 2021 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
The Third Set
At the start of the third set, Kristina finally held her serve to lead 1-0. In addition to that, she also broke Sakkari to gain the upper hand in the deciding set.
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The pressure was all on Maria and she had to break back to have a chance at winning the match. However, an opportunity never presented itself and Mladenovic ended up winning the set 6-3.
This was an amazing win for Kristina as she had been on a four-match losing streak coming into it. Hopefully, the World No. 50 will go on to reach the latter stages of the Australian Open this year.
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