Number 1 seed Maria Sakkari overcame Irina Camelia Begu 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 after 3 hours and 4 matches to reach her fourth career WTA singles final at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Sakkari rallied from a break down in the third set to claim a dramatic win in a thrilling three-set match. The Greek now leads 2-1 in her three head-to matches against Begu. The Romanian player had won their first match in Miami in 2016. Sakkari drew level with a win in the Seoul quarter finals in 2018 before today’s win in St. Petersburg.
The first set went on serve in the first nine games before three consecutive breaks. Sakkari claimed two of these three breaks to seal the first set 6-4.
Begu earned an early break in the first game to open up a 2-0 lead at the start of the second set, but Sakkari broke straight back to draw level to 2-2. Sakkari held at love for 5-4. Begu rallied from 15-30 to hold serve for 5-5. Both players held their next two games en route to the tie-break.
Begu hit an overhead winner to earn two set points and converted her first chance to win the tie-break 7-4.
Begu broke Sakkari in the second game of the third set to take a 2-0 lead. Sakkari earned two consecutive breaks to take a 3-2 lead, but Begu broke straight back to draw level to 3-3. Sakkari earned two of the three breaks in the following three games to take a 5-4 and served for the match. The Greek player earned two match points with two forehand winners. Begu fended them off and earned a break point. Sakkari saved it with a forehand before closing out the match with a passing winner.
Sakkari converted seven of her thirteen break points.
“It was a vert tough match. I think Begu played really well. The level of the match was super high. I had to come up with some very tough shots and very physical tennis, but I am very glad I did it. I am super excited to be in the final here. It was a very tough match. I think Begu played really well. The level of the match was super-high. I had to come up with some very tough shots and very physical tennis, but I am super excited to be in the final here. It’s one of my favourite tournaments. The last three games of the first set, so I am just very excited that I was able this year to reach the final. I still have one more match to go, and I am going to try my best to win the tournament”, said Sakkari.
Sakkari set up a final against world number 9 Anett Kontaveit, who beat 2017 Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 6-4. Kontaveit hit 29 winners to just 16 unforced errors.
Ostapenko opened up a 3-0 lead with a break in the second game, but Kontaveit came back by winning eight consecutive games to build up a 6-3 2-0 lead. Ostapenko bounced back by saving three break points to hold serve for 3-3. Kontaveit hit backhand return winners to claim the second set 6-4. Sakkari and Kontaveit have drawn 6-6 in their 12 head-to-head matches. Kontaveit won three of their five head-to-head matches in 2021 in the semifinals at the Grampians Trophy, in the final of the J&T Banka in Ostrava and in the semifinals at the WTA Finals in Guadalajara.