Maria Sakkari triumphs against Donna Vekic in a duel between friends

Maria Sakkari and Donna Vekic made the Design Centre shake on Friday evening! After 2:06 hours of play, the Greek number one seed at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz 2023 celebrated a 6:3, 7:6 (10/8) victory to advance to the semi-finals. After the match point, the two good friends hugged each other, having offered the fans tennis at the very highest level. "It was a match at a very high level from both of us; everyone who saw the match today said that. The second set in particular was very high-class," said Sakkari, ranked seventh in the world, about the duel with the reinvigorated Australian Open quarter-finalist.

"Beating a player like Donna in her current form is a confidence boost. Donna has started the year very strongly. She played an outstanding tournament at the Australian Open. I knew she was in very good form and I've lost to her many times before. It was tough today, but I fought off five set points in the second set and showed mental strength. I'm very happy about that," said the 27-year-old after the win. In the head-to-head comparison with Vekic, who is ranked 33rd in the world, Sakkari has three wins and five defeats. In her on-court interview with tournament ambassador Barbara Schett, the Linz debutant called out a "thank you" to the audience - in German.

WTA President Micky Lawler was also fascinated by the thrilling duel between Sakkari and Croatia's Vekic and showered the Upper Austria Ladies Linz with roses. "It's a fantastic tournament in a very modern location, and it has an immense significance in the WTA tournament programme. You can only congratulate Sandra Reichel and her team," said the US-American. Vice-Chancellor and Sports Minister Werner Kogler also followed the match to the end with enthusiasm.

Maria Sakkari's semi-final opponent was only decided late on Friday evening in a duel between Clara Tauson from Denmark and Petra Martic from Croatia. Martic won 6:4, 7:5. The Croatian semi-finalist's coach is Michael Geserer, former coach of former German world-class player Julia Görges.

Marketa Vondrousova from the Czech Republic and Anastasia Potapova will face each other in the second semi-final. Play starts at 2 p.m. on Saturday, with an exhibition match in wheelchair tennis taking place after the two semi-finals.