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.

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.

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.

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.

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.