Bertens fails in rainy Rome

Kiki Bertens ss already eliminated in the first round of the WTA tournament in Rome. Maria Sakkari from Greece defeated the new number 15 of the world in three sets. Sakkari won with 6-2 4-6 6-3.

Bertens looked fatigue and she seemed to have left her good shape in Madrid. The pupil of Raemon Sluiter played her biggest final ever in the WTA Tour ever last weekend. The player from Wateringen was defeated in the final against Petra Kvitova, but her play was impressive that whole week.

Last week Bertens defeated the number 42 of the world in two sets in the opening round, but on the slow court in Rome things went differently. Due to the heavy rainfall and the low temperatures the circumstances were completely different from last week in the Spanish capital.

Bertens didn’t move smoothly and made many mistakes. The 22-year-old player from Greece benefited from those mistakes. Only in the second set Bertens seemed to come back by making the decisive break (of a total of four) at 5-4. But in the decisive set the Dutch number one lost her service.

Sakkara, pupil of former top 10 player Thomas Johanson, will play against Karolina Pliskova in the second round. The sixth seed from the Czech Republic received a bye for the first round. Bertens will have a few days of rest before the tournament in Nürnberg next week.