Johanna Konta managed to defeat Sakkari at the Western & Southern Open in straight sets 6-4 6-3 which please both her and her coaching staff as the Greek showed how dangerous she was by defeating Serena in the previous round. On the match the Brit said:
"Obviously I'm really pleased to have won today," Konta said after the match. "I knew it was going to be a tough match. We have played a lot of great matches in the past, and none of them have been easy and they will never be easy either way."
It was an extremely tough match as Sakkari never gives up and that was something evident in this match as well. She kept things pretty close despite struggling quite a bit hitting only 15 winners with 37 unforced errors. Konta played a much cleaner match with 18 winners to only 20 unforced errors.
"Overall just pleased the way I competed. I thought I served again better and better as the match went on, I thought, and just overall I thought it was actually some good tennis out there."
Her next opponent will be Victoria Azarenka a player she is very familiar with. On that match she briefly said:
"In terms of Vika, really looking forward to it, another opportunity to play a Grand Slam champion. We have had some great matches in the past but not for a few years, I don't think. Looking forward to being in a semifinal, which is nice, and playing against another really great player."
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