Sakkari outlasts Pegula at Citi Open to reach first WTA final in 2023, faces Gauff next

Maria Sakkari is through to the final of the Mubadala Citi DC Open after defeating Jessica Pegula 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 on Saturday afternoon. Sakkari advanced after two hours and three minutes to set up a showdown in Sunday’s championship match against Coco Gauff.

The world No 9 struck four aces and converted five of nine break-point opportunities.

Sakkari’s road to the final also included victories over Canadian qualifier Leylah Fernandez (7-5, 6-2) and seventh-seeded American Madison Keys (6-3, 6-3).

It was still a productive week for Pegula, who had previously ousted compatriot Peyton Stearns (6-3, 6-4) and Ukrainian wild card Elina Svitolina (4-6, 6-3, 6-4).

Sakkari into first final of the season, eyes second career title

After reaching four WTA finals in 2022 (lost all four), Sakkari is into her first final of the 2023 campaign. The Greek is bidding for just her second-ever WTA title, having previously triumphed on the red clay of Rabat, Morocco in 2019.

Sakkari has since lost five finals in a row, including two at the 1000-point level last year (Indian Wells and Guadalajara).

I’ll be deadly honest with you: I didn’t expect my tennis to be that good this week.

Maria Sakkari

This week has brought some much-needed success for Sakkari, who had been struggling since advancing to the Madrid semi-finals. She lost in the first round of both the French Open and Wimbledon. As such, her confidence was low heading into DC.

“I’ll be deadly honest with you: I didn’t expect my tennis to be that good this week,” the 28-year-old admitted. “I was playing really good back home, but I didn’t expect to make the final here. Actually, I had a feeling that this tournament is going to be good for me, but at the same time I was, like, ‘Okay, let’s see how it goes.’

“But, yeah, it’s paying off. I’m playing good tennis again. I’m aggressive. That’s something that I lost a little bit this year. You know, I’m approaching the net a lot more than in the beginning of the year. My serve has been good — not the best but good (in) these three matches.

“I’m just super excited. I’m going to enjoy myself tomorrow, as well.”

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