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Sakkari wins after silencing Shnaider’s “inappropriate” celebrations

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Maria Sakkari took umbrage with opponent Diana Shnaider’s vocal celebrations after winning points at the Australian Open on Wednesday.

But the Greek went on to silence the teenage qualifier with a finger-wagging rant on the way to a comeback 3-6 7-5 6-3 win.

World number 106 Shnaider, wearing a black and white polka dot kerchief, made a habit of roaring in Sakkari’s direction and throwing her icy stares.

It got too much for the Greek sixth seed at 5-5 in the second set at Margaret Court Arena.

After a wry grin, Sakkari grew serious and walked toward the chair umpire holding up a finger, saying: “If she screams one more time in my face … No, no, no, no.

“One more time … She’s coming towards me. One more time and I’m going to speak to the referee.”

Taking charge of the situation appeared to work for Sakkari, who duly broke the 18-year-old Russian to take the set, then locked down the match to reach the third round.

“During a match you can be very pumped or, you know, the way that some players celebrate their points, it’s not appropriate,” Sakkari later told reporters.

“I wasn’t happy with that. But, you know, she never did it again. That was very nice of her.”

Olawale Alabi

NEWSVERGE, published by The Verge Communications is an online community of international news portal and social advocates dedicated to bringing you commentaries, features, news reports from a Nigerian-African perspective. A unique organization, founded in the spirit of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, comprising of ordinary people with an overriding commitment to seeking the truth and publishing it without fear or favour. The Verge Communications is fully registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a corporate organization.

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