Round 2 of the French Open: Varvara Gracheva Upsets Sixth Seed Maria Sakkari

Varvara Gracheva avoided early upsets at the French Open 2024 by defeating Maria Sakkari in the first round on Monday, May 27, to advance to the second round. Gracheva earned a comeback triumph over the Greek star, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, as the match concluded in little over 2 hours and 10 minutes.

Sakkari, seeking to make apologies for her dismal performance at the Australian Open, got off to a rough start, as Gracheva broke her in the opening game. However, Sakkari was able to repay the favor in the following one, as she gradually gained control of the situation and established a 4-2 lead by breaking the 23-year-old French star. The two would then lose while serving, with Sakkari eventually pulling away and winning the opening set 6-3.

Gracheva found her stride in the second set and eventually broke Sakkari to grab the lead and extend it to 4-1. Sakkari, on the other hand, would launch her own comeback, tying the score at 4-4 because the odds were in favor of the sixth seed at the time.

The following serve had Gracheva on the edge of winning the victory with the score at 5-2, but Sakkari dug deep to save a pair of match points and win the game. However, it was unable to spark a comeback for the sixth seed, as Gracheva earned a spectacular victory to advance to the next round.

However, the French star regained control of the situation and won the next two games, tying the game 1-1 and forcing a decision. The third set saw both ladies push each other in the early going, with the score even at 2-2.

Gracheva took the lead on the serve, and the next game saw an extraordinary back-and-forth between the two ladies. It appeared like the Greek star would be able to level things up, but Gracheva took advantage of the crowd's excitement to secure the breakpoint.