Maria Sakkari said she is growing in confidence with each match after a shaky tune-up to the US Open, but the Greek 17th seed who is bidding to make the fourth round for the second straight year faces a tricky test against Petra Kvitova on Saturday.
Novak Djokovic faces his conqueror in the 2014 semi-finals Kei Nishikori as he continues his charge towards a 21st Grand Slam while fellow top seed Ash Barty meets local hope Shelby Rogers on a day of highly-anticipated matches.
After reaching the fourth round of the Canadian Open, the 26-year-old Sakkari crashed to a straight-sets defeat against Germany’s Angelique Kerber in her Cincinnati opener, before heading to New York where she has made a solid start.
After seeing off Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the first round, Sakkari beat Katerina Siniakova for another comfortable victory but the world number 18 said she was jittery during the contest against the Russian.
“I was nervous because I really wanted to win and make it again to the third round. That gives me a lot of confidence in my game, winning two tough matches,” said Sakkari, who trails her next opponent 2-3 in head-to-head meetings.
“I think mentally I did really well, handling the pressure and the stress. So I’m very proud of myself that I did.”
Kvitova, who has beaten Polona Hercog and Kristyna Pliskova in her opening two matches, said that she had hit upon the ideal solution to deal with the New York pressure.
“Well, I think that over those years when I’m getting older, I just enjoy shopping a little bit more,” the double Grand Slam champion said.
“As well I like walking in Central Park. Just turn off a little bit my mental side, and not think too much about tennis.”
Fourth seed Alexander Zverev of Germany takes on American Jack Sock in the evening session on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 champion, begins proceedings on Louis Armstrong Stadium against unseeded Belgian Greet Minnen before Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic plays Jessica Pegula and Gael Monfils meets 13th seed Jannik Sinner.
Order of play on the main show courts on the sixth day of the US Open on Saturday (play starts at 1500 GMT/11 AM ET unless stated, prefix number denotes seeding):
ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM (1600 GMT/12 PM ET)
10-Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) v 17-Maria Sakkari (Greece)
1-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) v Kei Nishikori (Japan)
1-Ash Barty (Australia) v Shelby Rogers (U.S.)
4-Alexander Zverev (Germany) v Jack Sock (U.S.)
LOUIS ARMSTRONG STADIUM
Greet Minnen (Belgium) v 6-Bianca Andreescu (Canada)
11-Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) v 23-Jessica Pegula (U.S.)
17-Gael Monfils (France) v 13-Jannik Sinner (Italy)
Lloyd Harris (South Africa) v 7-Denis Shapovalov (Canada)
Varvara Gracheva (Russia) v 14-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia)
REUTERS