Maria Sakkari’s the first semi-finalist of the 2022 WTA Finals. The Greek won her second round-robin match, against Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday to reach the penultimate round. Sakkari needed an hour and 37 minutes to claim a 6-2, 6-4 win for herself.
The opening set moved swiftly in favour of the fifth seed as she saved both break points she faced and secured two breaks for herself to go up on her seventh-seeded opponent. Sakkari won 76% of her first-serve points to Sabalenka’s 53% and 66% of her second-serve points to the latter’s 44%. The second set saw Sabalenka attempt a comeback and even overturn an early break to go up 4-3 in the set. However, Sakkari regained her lost advantage and ensured that Sabalenka’s efforts to return into the match went in vain.
Post her success, Sakkari said, “If you’re not aggressive on this court, then it’s just game over. If I was passive, especially against [Sabalenka], the biggest hitter on the tour, then it’s just bye-bye. I just went for it. If I’m not going to go for it here, when am I going to do it?”
This is the second consecutive year that Sakkari’s made it this far into the year-ending tournament. In 2021, when she made her WTA Finals debut, Sakkari had – incidentally – bested Sabalenka to take her place in the semis.
WTA Finals: Ons Jabeur, Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula still hopeful
Meanwhile, Nancy Richey group’s other round-robin clash saw Ons Jabeur score a comeback win against Jessica Pegula. Jabeur had previously lost her first round-robin match against Sabalenka after the latter notched a comeback. This time around, the Tunisian second seed claimed a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 win after an hour and 38 minutes of play.
Jabeur saved five break points in the deciding set while securing just the one break on the American’s serve. The third set was a complete turnaround for Pegula who’d faced no break points in the first set and had broken her second-seeded opponent thrice.
In the final round-robin matches of this group to be played on Friday at the WTA Finals, Maria Sakkari will play Ons Jabeur while Aryna Sabalenka will take on Jessica Pegula. All three players have a chance of securing a place in the semi-finals.