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Fifth-seeded Maria Sakkari is enjoying herself to the fullest at Wimbledon as she is happy to be playing well and proving the doubters wrong. On Wednesday, Sakkari saw off Viktoriya Tomova 6-4 6-3 to progress into the Wimbledon third round.
After the win, Sakkari hit back at those who once claimed she wasn't capable of playing really well on grass. "I'm just enjoying my game on the grass because there were certain people saying I could never play on the grass, but I believe that I really can because I'm a good mover, I have a good serve," Sakkari said, per the WTA website.
"As I said, I've been playing more aggressive, so I don't see why not doing well on this surface."
Sakkari aims her maiden Grand Slam title at Wimbledon
Sakkari, who reached two Grand Slam semifinals last year, is aiming to go a step further this year and win her maiden Grand Slam title.
This year's Wimbledon won't bring any points to participants but Sakkari acknowledged that "Wimbledon is still Wimbledon." "I think Wimbledon is Wimbledon," Sakkari said. "It's probably one of most special, if not the most special, tournament of the year.
There's something very unique about it. I'm very motivated only by being here. It's always an honor, no matter what ranking you have, being here. It's a great reward for what I have achieved." In her second round match versus Tomova, Sakkari performed pretty well.
Sakkari earned the first break of the match in the third but Tomova broke back in the fourth game to tie the set to two games apiece. However, it didn't take long for Sakkari to claim another break as she broke Tomova again in the fifth game and then held on to her serve the rest of the set to win the opener.
After winning the first set, Sakkari broke Tomova twice in the second set to complete a straight-set win. Sakkari plays next Tatjana Maria.