Maria Sakkari wins a hard fought two setter over Iga Swiatek 6-4 7-5 at the WTA 500 Ostrava tournament.
Sakkari confronted difficulty in two prolonged service games in the early stages of the second set, and had to fend off her first break point of the day before holding for 2-2. But after hauling herself out of that danger, the Greek drew errors from Swiatek to move ahead by a break at 3-2.
Swiatek finally broke the Sakkari serve later on, charging into the forecourt for a putaway to level the set at 4-4. But at 5-5, Sakkari again put Swiatek's serve under pressure, and she converted her third break point of that game with a forehand winner down the line to lead 6-5. Sakkari polished off the win on her first match point in the following game.
Maria Sakkari is through to her first WTA final since 2019.
Sakkari has been on fire all week, not dropping a set on her way to the final. With a win tomorrow, Sakkari would become the first Greek woman to reach the top 10.
Next up: Sakkari is now one win away from her second career WTA singles title. To get that crown, she will have to beat the winner of Saturday’s second semifinal: either Anett Kontaveit of Estonia or 2nd-seeded crowdfavouritee Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic.