Wimbledon, 3rd Round, Friday, 01.07.2022
German Holiday at Wimbledon! Who would have thought that in the women’s singles there would be three players in the 3rd round and surprise the fans so positively? Whether young talents or veterans, London seems to suit them.
Probably the biggest surprise is not even seeded in the top 100. On Friday, she will face one of the best in the world. Bet365 doesn’t think she has much of a chance, but in my Sakkari Maria tip I’ll tell you why I’m betting on a lot of rallies!
Tatjana Maria will be 35 years old in a few weeks, but she doesn’t seem to be thinking about retiring yet. Why? That’s what she’s showing at Wimbledon these days! The 102nd ranked player in the world just slipped into the main draw and is showing off here in a big way.
She lost her first set of the tournament 4-6 to Storm Sanders, but came back all the stronger with a 6-3, 6-4. She also gave herself a little break in the first round, winning 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 against Sorana Cirstea, who is clearly positioned above her.
Was Maria so strong or her opponents so weak? It was probably a mix of both, because her statistics in terms of breaks and service are really only at home in the midfield.
It is not atypical for women’s matches that there are numerous breaks and re-breaks. Maria conceded twelve chances in the second round, she probably won’t be allowed to do that against Maria Sakkari.
The 34-year-old is known for biting into her matches, usually her results feature three sets. Her recent tournaments have almost invariably implied small matches or even ITF encounters.
Only once in her year-long career did she make it to a third round at a Grand Slam: at Wimbledon 2015! So now she has set this success, but now she also gets to deal with a real top star.
She already met Maria Sakkari at this year’s Australian Open and showed a respectable performance at 4-6, 6-7. The fact that she has already beaten Sakkari should no longer matter, after all, she already won in 2014.
What do the bookmakers say, do they see Germany’s chances of winning? Rather less, on average I see a 1.10 to 6.30. No wonder, after all, the Greek is at home in fifth place in the world rankings.
But that alone does not make her a co-favourite, because her preparation did not bring the desired success. In Nottingham she failed to beat Beatriz Haddad Maria, in Berlin Belinda Bencic.
After this semi-final she travelled to the island, competed in Eastbourne and had to cope with a defeat against Anhelina Kalinina already in the first round. A clear line cannot be discerned in her performances.
In Wimbledon, she has been lucky with the draw so far. 6-1, 6-4 against Zoe Hives and 6-4, 6-3 against Viktorija Tomova, Tatjana Maria can definitely keep up with this duo on a good day!
The 26-year-old only made use of ten of her 26 break chances, which can be improved. For her, too, it is true that she has never made it past the third round here at Wimbledon. Only if she can consistently show her potential on the court will she be able to beat Maria by a clear margin.
My Sakkaria Maria Tip
The German ladies finally convince once again at a Grand Slam, Tatjana Maria is a fighting nature, three sets and tiebreaks, even against the best, are not uncommon here.
In Maria Sakkari’s case, there have been quite a few defeats against inferior opponents, the Greek is simply not stable enough. Although she is my favourite due to her individual quality, I still believe in an open exchange of blows and bet:
We see more than 18.5 games!
