Maria Sakkari shook off any lingering disappointment from last year’s round-robin exit and powered Greece to a fast start at the 2026 United Cup in Perth, earning a marquee straight-sets win over four-time Grand Slam champion and world No. 16 Naomi Osaka.
Facing Osaka for the first time in nearly five years, the former world No. 3 jumpstarted Greece’s opening tie against Japan with a 6-4, 6-2 victory in 1 hour and 38 minutes at RAC Arena, fueled by quick starts in both sets.
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Sakkari struck first in the opener, racing out to a 2-0 lead with a hold and an early break in Osaka’s opening service game. Osaka broke back immediately, but Sakkari reclaimed the advantage and closed out the set, painting the line with a backhand winner to set up a third set point, which she would promptly convert.
“I have a very good backhand cross,” Sakkari said after the match. “And we had a lot of battles going across to each other, so I felt whoever just went down the line first had the best chance of winning the point. It was something we worked on in preseason a lot and it paid off today.”
The second set opened with the two trading holds before Sakkari erased two break points for a 2-1 lead. She then managed to break Osaka again to move in front 3-1, and she maintained control from there, sealing her third win in six meetings with Osaka to even their head-to-head and, more importantly, give Greece a 1-0 lead in its tie against Japan.