Sakkari cruising when rain falls again at Wimbledon

Maria Sakkari leads Marta Kostyuk 5-0 (deuce)

By Charlie Stong on Court No.2

No8 seed Maria Sakkari was in complete control of her first round match against Marta Kostyuk when once again rain stopped play at this year’s Wimbledon Championships today.

The Greek led 5-0 and was two points away from securing a first set in which she had completely overwhelmed her Ukrainian opponent when the heavens opened.

Play was late to start today – an hour-and-a-half’s delay to add to yesterday’s near-complete misery for those with ground admission only.

Sakkari played like a woman in a hurry – as if she knew she only had a matter of time to wrap things up.

She held her first service game to 15 and was gifted the second game when a nervous Kostyuk served up a number of unforced errors and a double fault to hand Sakkari the game.

The pattern was similar throughout the rest of the first five games, although Sakkari was forced to save three break points in the third game.

More wild shots from the world number 36, both forehands long and errors into the net, made it 4-0 as the second break was secured.

The third could have come two games later, but with the rain pouring down Kostyuk did at least manage to hold of the seemingly inevitable for the time being, and the players rushed from the elements on the exposed No.2 Court.

The weather is expected to clear up – but they said that yesterday.

Pictured top: Maria Sakkari v Marta Kostyuk on Court No.2 today (Picture: Charlie Stong)