Sakkari withdrew from its semifinal of the Kremlin Cup
Ekaterina Alexandrova advances to face Anett Kontaveit in the final in Moscow after Maria Sakkari retires trailing 1-4 in the first set. It's Alexandrova's first final appearance of the year.
Sakkari was trailing 4-1 in the first set when she retired. The reason was not immediately clear.
Sakkari is ranked seventh in the world and secured a place at the season-ending WTA Finals earlier this week when she reached the quarterfinals in Moscow.
Alexandrova reached her first tour-level final since winning the Shenzhen Open in January 2020 and has a 1-1 career record in finals.
In Sunday’s final, Kontaveit will bid to win a third title in as many months after beating Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-4 in the other semifinal match. The Estonian took a big lead early in both sets but took her time closing out the match on the fourth match point.