Maria stuns defending champ

CHARLESTON: Defending champion Kiki Bertens suffered a surprise 7-6 (8), 6-3 loss to World No 50 Maria Sakkari in the third round of the Charleston Open in South Carolina on Thursday.

On a day when top seed Sloane Stephens survived a scare before beating Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 64, 6-4, Maria showcased supreme court coverage skills throughout her almost two-hour match against Kiki.

Maria clinched the match after breaking the second-seeded Dutchwoman, who was playing on her preferred clay surface, for the seventh time in the contest.

The win also righted the ship for Maria, who after a strong start to the year that included a run to the third round at the Australian Open, fell in the early stages of tournaments is St. Petersburg, Acapulco, Indian Wells and Miami.

“I’m pretty excited and speechless,” Maria said on court. “I had a rough two months after the Australian Open, I was losing in the first round, second round and I really wanted to come back stronger.

“Finally I came back and I’m feeling great.”

Up next for Maria will be fifth seed Caroline, who beat 12thseeded Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

In the late match, Australian Ajla won the first set with an exquisite backhand drop volley that American Sloane could not retrieve.

Ajla reeled off 13 straight points early in the second set, hitting a series of winners to race to a 3-0 lead, but Sloane wrested back the momentum as quickly as she had lost it.

Croatian-born Ajla continued to go for her shots in the final set but while she hit more winners than her opponent, Sloane prevailed by making fewer errors.

Earlier on Thursday, ninth seed Belinda Bencic extended her fine form with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Taylor Townsend to reach the quarter-finals while Petra Martic beat Jessica Pegula 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.