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Chalk talk: Star power, top teams and No. 5 seeds headline the women's March Madness Sweet 16
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By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) - A wide-open Wimbledon women's draw has 25 potential champions, according to Greece's Maria Sakkari who became the first seed to reach the second round on Monday.
Sakkari, seeded nine, made short work of American qualifier McCartney Kessler 6-3 6-1 in little over an hour to begin her quest to finally make her mark at the tournament.
The 28-year-old Athenian has never been beyond the third round at Wimbledon but believes there is an opportunity to improve on that mediocre record this year.
"For sure it boosts my confidence in a way. Obviously the more I get to play in this tournament the better I will feel," Sakkari, whose recent record in Grand Slams has been poor, told reporters after her rapid victory out on Court 12.
The former world number three lost in the opening round of the French Open where she was seeded sixth.
"It's just always good to get that first-round win. Very happy that I managed to overcome myself because what happened at the French Open was really tough," she told reporters.
With third seed Aryna Sabalenka pulling out on Monday because of a shoulder injury and no obvious dominant force on grass courts in the draw, Sakkari said many players will believe they can emulate last year's winner Marketa Vondrousova.
"From my side, it's wide open," Sakkari said. "So anyone can win. Going into the tournament I think that we could name like 20 or 25 girls that could win the tournament right now.
"I think the depth of women's tennis is just very good right now, and everyone is playing good."
There have been seven different women's winners in the last seven Wimbledons and Sakkari believes the Wimbledon grass, which these days play more like a medium-fast hardcourt, holds little fear for the new generation.
"Grass obviously plays different to clay and hard court. But there's not a top player that cannot play on grass," she said.
Sakkari was joined in the second round by Russia's 14th seed Daria Kasatkina who cruised to a 6-3 6-0 victory over Zhang Shuai -- backing up predictions that the Eastbourne champion can make an impact in the Wimbledon fortnight.
Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk, seeded 18th, also prevailed, beating Slovakia's Rebecca Sramkova 6-3 6-2.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, Editing by Ed Osmond)
