(Tennis news) Anett Kontaveit won her fourth straight indoor title by beating Maria Sakkari in the final at St. Petersburg. Kontaveit was facing Sakkari for the 13th time, the pair had 6 wins apiece but the Estonian now has the lead by winning the last three matches. The second seed is now a win away from equalling Jana Novotna’s winning streak of 21 matches in 1994, Kontaveit can become the 6th player since 1989 to have 21 consecutive wins indoors.

The world number 9 was off to a lightning fast start with a 5-2 lead but Sakkari came back with all her might to take the set. The top seed took the lead in the second set by winning the first two games but Kontaveit did not lose grip and leveled the scores. There were no further service breaks until the 11th game as the Greek player saved a set point and took it to a tiebreaker. In the tiebreak, the former world number 6 did not stumble in taking the lead with her returns as she won the set.

In the final set, last year’s Ostrava runner up took a 4-1 lead as she had a second chance to win the title. For the third time in the match, there was a change in the end as Kontaveit was only a game away from losing the match at 5-3 but hit a forehand passing shot which gave her the break at 5-5. This time there was no exchange of comebacks as Sakkari will have to wait a few days for her second career title. Kontaveit defeated Sakkari 5-7, 7-6(7-4), 7-5.

When asked about her record breaking indoors streak, "Yeah, I'm not sure what to say about that," Kontaveit told WTA Insider after the match. "I like to hit the ball. Indoors there's no wind, there's no sun, there's nothing that's affecting you. But I think that would also help everyone else. So I don't know. I don't know what it is. I can't really put my finger on it."

Kontaveit has now moved three places up for a career best number 6 in the rankings, Sakkari went down one place as she is now ranked 8 and is four points below Garbine Muguruza. The Dubai Duty Tennis Championships will begin from today as the players get ready for a tightly packed tour this month. The first WTA 1000 event of the season, Qatar Totalenergies Open will begin next week.

Also read: Kontaveit looking to extend indoor winning streak at St. Petersburg