Maria Sakkari seethes over screaming opponent – ‘If she screams one more time in my face…’

Australian Open
Maria Sakkari in action

Maria Sakkari had to battle to secure her place in the third round of the Australian Open and her opponent certainly left a mark both with her performance and her screaming.

Diana Shnaider came through qualifying to secure her place in her first-ever Grand Slam main draw and she then beat Kristina Kucova in the first round.

The 18-year-old continued her fine form on Wednesday as she won the opening set against the world No 6 on the back of a break in game three.

Sakkari, though, hit back in the second and third sets to secure a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory in just over two-and-a-half hours.

The second set had five breaks with the Greek edging it 3-2 while Sakkari also broke twice in the deciding set.

However, during a tense second set the sixth seed made her feelings known about the Russian teenager’s antics as she turned to the chair umpire to say: “If she screams one more time in my face.

She repeated: “If she screams one more time in my face. No, no, no, no, one more time… she’s coming towards me. One more time and I’m going to speak to the referee.”

Sakkari, though, had nothing but praise for Shnaider during the on-court interview.

“It was a very high level from both of us. She played an amazing match,” the 27-year-old said.

“She’s very young, she’s very promising. Maybe she should consider not going to college and turning pro.”

The Greek added: “It’s never easy to play someone you have never played before, never seen before on the tour. I was a little bit hesitant. She was swinging very hard, she was playing very aggresive. I know I should have been more aggressive because I was very far back from the baseline, running and defending every single ball, which is not my game.

“But still I tried to find ways. I think I am good at trying to find solutions.”

Sakkari will face either 32nd seed Jil Teichmann or Zhu Lin in the third round while 10th seed Madison Keys or former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka could be a fourth-round opponent.

Meanwhile, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova crashed out at Melbourne Park as the 15th seed Czech was upset by Anhelina Kalinina with the Ukrainian winning 7-5, 6-4.

READ MORE: WATCH: Daniil Medvedev tells fan to ‘f*** off’ shortly before wrapping up win

Diana Shnaider Maria Sakkari

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