Even with little difficulty, the Maria Sakkari He managed to overcome Camilla Rahimova’s “obstacle” (2-1 set) and get in with the … right to Cincinnati’s Masters (WTA’s 1000).
Maria Sakkari showed … a character in the difficult places, defeated Camilla Rahimova in the three sets (3-6, 6-3, 2-6), after a 2-hour match and 11 minutes and closed the match with Yasmine Paolini (No. 9 in the World Rank).
Sakkari started with a break in the match, Rachimova “responded” the same way, while the Greek champion “broke” her opponent’s service again before holding her own and led 3-1. The two tennis players then held their service until the 8th game, and then Sakari with a new break got the first set with 6-3.
In the second set, Rahimova started with a break, and then held her own service and led 2-0. The Russian woman again broke Sakkari’s service and led 4-1, but the Greek woman responded with a break for 4-2 and then held her own service and reduced to 4-3. But Rahimova made it 5-3 and then made a break 6-3 and 1-1 in the sets.
The third set started ideally for Sakari who made two breaks and led 4-0. Rahimova fought to stay in the game and reduced to 5-2, but the 30-year-old champion made it 6-2 and celebrated the victory in her first game in the competition.
On the (Sakk) attack @mariasakkari | #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/4EU58Dg7T4
– WTA (@WTA) August 8, 2025
This was Maria Sakkari’s second victory (No. 66 in the world) against Camilla Rahimova (No. 67 in the world rankings), after the one that had achieved five years ago, at Roland Garros.
Sakkari will face Italian Jasmin Paolini in the “64”, who spent the first round without a race. The two tennis players have faced three times in the past with the Greek champion counting two wins: in 2021 in Roland Garros’s “64” and this year in the “32” tournament in Madrid. For its part, Paolini celebrated last year in the “16” of the tournament in Dubai.