Maria Sakkari and Ons Jabeur started 2021 as they ended 2020 as they both opened their seasons with victories in Abu Dhabi.
In a season where she managed to make her first grand slam quarter-final, Maria Sakkari was looking to build on her success last season and make new strides in 2021.
On paper, the Greek had a tricky start to the new season as she took on the streaky Anastasia Potapova in her first match.
The Russian was capable of big wins on big occasions although early injury problems in the match didn’t help her progress of achieving the same thing today.
A consistent first part of the performance saw Sakkari break early on as she found her rhythm and managed to cover all parts of the court even at the net, a place which isn’t her most comfortable.
Although Potapova continued to find some powerful groundstrokes on serve, it was on the return games where she couldn’t find a way to break down the consistency and variety of Sakkari.
Some nervy moments for the 9th seed, when serving for the match, gave the Russian the opportunity to break back. However Sakkari showed great mental character to go for bolder shots as she won the first set 6-4.
The world number 101 had even more of a struggle in the second set as she couldn’t fend off the aggressive returning tactics of Sakkari.
Five games in a row including two consecutive breaks sent the Greek on her way to her first win of the season as she booked a potential second round clash with Coco Gauff.
After the match, Sakkari praised the work she has done with her serve during the off-season, “I worked a lot on my serve in, let’s say, the last nine months,” Sakkari said during her press conference. “It’s going really well, I have to say. I’m super pleased with the way I’m serving. I’m getting good results inside the court from my serve.”
Another first time grand slam quarter-finalist last season was Ons Jabeur and like Sakkari continued her good run of form into 2021 after defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6(3) 6-3.
The Tunisian created 13 break point opportunities and converted three as produced the higher quality tennis in the bigger moments to start her season with a win. Yafan Wang could await Jabeur in round two as she looks to aim for a top 10 finish this year.
Other winners on day one included Yulia Putintseva and Ajla Tomljanovic while we had our first three hour plus match with Kirsten Flipkens defeating Laura Siegemund 5-7 7-5 6-4 in three hours and five minutes.
