Maria Sakkari moves on in Moscow after Kalinskaya retires

Maria Sakkari got her VTB Kremlin Cup campaign off to a good start against Kalinskaya who was forced to retire in the 2nd set trailing 1-6 0-1.

The Greek player is currently on a mission to collect some additional points making her position for the WTA Finals even stronger than it is. Sakkari is widely expected to be there but getting a few more extra points should not hurt and it will keep the Greek player in shape. In this match, her form looked great as she was able to assert herself as the dominant player rather quickly.

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Kalinskaya had a major breakthrough performance in Indian Wells however that came with an obvious cost. The Russian did not look very good from the start. She failed to do anything on return and on serve she barely hung on. It became apparent that something was wrong and after only one game in the 2nd set Kalinskaya retired from the match.

Not the way she wanted it but Sakkari moves on at the Kremlin Cup. A quarterfinal match against either Halep or Kudermetova is next and that should be a delight.