Number 5 seed Julia Goerges cruised past Maria Sakkari 6-2 7-6 (7-5) in their first head-to-head match to reach the second round at the Ladies Trophy in St. Petersburg.
Goerges hit 10 aces and faced two break points during the match. Both players went on serve without any break points in the early games. Goerges earned the first break of the match with a forehand down the line in the sixth game and sealed the first set with a double break in the eighth game at 15.
Sakkari had to dig deep to hold serve in the fourth game of the second set to draw level to 2-2 before breaking serve in the fifth game as Goerges made a double fault. Goerges broke straight back in the next game to draw level to 3-3. The German player held serve at love before earning a break point in the next game with a return winner. The next games went on serve until the 12th game when Sakkari was serving to stay in the match. The Greek player saved a match point to force the second set to the tie-break. They went on serve until the 10th point when Goerges got the decisive mini-break.
Goreges will face Italian qualifier Roberta Vinci, who beat Tereza Martincova 6-2 6-2 after 1 hour and 13 minutes. Vinci went up a double break in the third and fifth games and never faced a break point. The Italian player served out for the set at love on her first set point in the eighth game.
“I just wanted to focus on my game and be aggressive on my shots. I know she is a very good mover. I just tried to make sure that I was aggressive and take charge of the game. The aces are are one of my biggets weapons. We have worked a lot on it. I just hope it cna help me in some tough moments”, said Goerges.
Vinci recovered from 15-40 down in the second game to break serve at love. The 2016 St. Petersburg champion saved four break points in the fourth game and held serve to take a 3-1 lead. Vinci went up a double break at love in the seventh game earning a chance to serve out for the match. She sealed the 38-minute second set on her first match point.
“Next year I would like to come back to St. Petersburg as a spectator because I enjoy this tournament”, said Vinci.
