(Tennis news) In the longest match of the tournament so far, Maria Sakkari certainly played her best against Aryna Sabalenka to secure the fourth spot in the semifinals at Akron WTA Finals Guadalajara. Sabalenka was leading 5-3 when Sakkari found hope at an unexpected time as he broke Sabalenka’s serve and went to level the score. The first set went till tie break as Sakkari kept on testing Sabalenka who continued serving double faults as she lost the set.
In the second set, Sabalenka who was still processing the first set went on to miss two set points as it looked like the match was slipping away from her. The top seed was two points away from losing in the tiebreak as Sakkari kept spoiling her chances to take the set but Sabalenka set the court on fire with her groundstrokes covering her earlier mistakes to take the match to the final set. In the finale, Sabalenka took a 3-1 lead but this time it was Sakkari who came back just like in the first set to take the match as she roared after a 2 hour 45 minute ordeal. Sakkari defeated Sabalenka 7-6(7-1), 6-7(6-8), 6-3.
"I think it was a rollercoaster match from both of us," Sakkari said. "I was up for a break, then she was up for a break. It was just a matter of who took the chances. I think at the end I just played with my heart and fought well, just turned things around."
Iga Swatiek played her final match of the event as she beat Paul Badosa who had already secured the semifinal spot. The first set looked to go for a tiebreaker until Swatiek broke Badosa in the 11th game, setting up a breakpoint with a backhand winner and took the game with a mighty forehand. In the second set, Badosa took the lead from the start as the score was 4-2 when Swatiek again pulled out rocking groundstrokes to take the next four games to take the match. Swatiek defeated Badosa 7-5, 6-4.
"I think it was a really solid match for me," Swiatek said after her win. "I'm pretty happy that I had a chance to show my tennis finally, overcome all these factors around, just play the game. I really enjoyed myself today on court, which is really important for me. Also, I hope Paula, she's going to have the best result here. I'm going to be cheering for sure tomorrow.”
In doubles, Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens secured their second victory in three matches as they defeated Sharon Fichman and Giuliana Olmos. Sharon and Giuliana played their final match at the event as they ended the group stage with three losses. Hsieh and Elise defeated Sharon and Giuliana 6-4,7-6(7-3).
Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova are so far unbeaten as they picked up their third consecutive victory when they defeated Alexa Guarachi and Desirae Krawczyk. Barbora and Katerina defeated Alexa and Desirae 5-7, 7-6(7-3), 10-7.
Also read: Karolina Pliskova out of semi final race at Akron WTA Finals Guadalajara
