Nottingham Open: Maria Sakkari takes her place in the last-8; Camila Giorgi upset

Maria Sakkari, the top seed at the Nottingham Open made her way into the quarter-finals of the WTA 250 event on Thursday. Sakkari came from a set down against Rebecca Marino to eventually prevail, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 in an hour and 43 minutes.

Sakkari won 71% of her first-serve points to the Canadian’s 60%. But the latter was better effective in winning points off second serves – 64% to Sakkari’s 44%. Sakkari saved six of the nine break points she faced while converting four of the seven break points on Marino’s serve.

In the quarter-finals, the Greek will take on seventh seed Beatriz Haddad Maia. The Brazilian won against the British qualifier, Yuriko Miyazaki, 6-2, 7-6(4) in an hour and 54 minutes. Haddad Maia won 68% of her first-serve points to Miyazaki’s 54%. Haddad Maia conceded her serve only once out of the six break points she faced while converting three break points on the Briton’s serve.

Nottingham Open: British hopeful Harriet Dart causes a ripple

Ajla Tomljanovic defeated Miyazaki’s compatriot and fellow qualifier, Katie Boulter in their second-round clash. The Australian, who’s seeded fifth in the draw, needed an hour and 17 minutes to win 6-3, 6-4.

Boulter won 81% of her first-serve points to Tomljanovic’s 75% but was let down by the points she was able to win off her second serves. While Tomljanovic won 54% of her second-serve points, Boulter could manage to win only 25%. In terms of break point conversion, Tomljanovic converted three of the five break points she had on her opponent’s serve while losing her serve only once, of the seven break points she faced.

The 45th-ranked Tomljanovic will play Viktorija Golubic, who’d advanced to the quarters on Wednesday.

Sixth seed Alison Riske defeated Caroline Garcia, 6-4, 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals. The American will play Harriet Dart for a chance to reach the Nottingham Open semi-finals. The Briton completed an upset over third seed Camila Giorgi, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(3). Earlier the clash between Dart and Giorgi that was scheduled for Wednesday had to be postponed to Thursday mid-match due to bad weather.