(Fort Worth) In a clash punctuated by heavy strikes from the baseline on either side and played in front of a sparse crowd on Monday, Maria Sakkari of Greece won a two-set tiebreaker against American Jessica Pegula in the first singles match of the WTA Finals group stage.
In the presence of his grandmother, fifth-seeded Sakkari defeated third-seeded Pegula 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4) in a match that lasted more than two hours and which was intended to be a resumption of their duel in the final of the Guadalajara Open, on October 23.
Pegula won that match 6-2, 6-3 to earn her first career title at a WTA 1000 tournament and climb to third in the world rankings.
“It’s never easy against Jessica,” said Sakkari, who made two Grand Slam semi-finals last season.
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Monday’s clash was one marked by a multitude of twists and turns.
Sakkari won the first two games. Pegula won the next three. Sakkari broke to take a 6-5 lead and give himself a chance to serve for the set. Pegula responded with a break when Sakkari missed a bunt.
In the tiebreaker, Sakkari finally converted his third ball of the set thanks to a forehand passing, 71 minutes after the first serve of the match.
The scenario of the second round was similar to that of the previous one. It was less than 15 minutes before Sakkari led 3-0. Time to say it, the score was 3-3.
Sakkari took advantage of two match points at 6-5. At the first opportunity, she sent a backhand into the net while Pegula erased the second with a backhand winner.
Then, in the second tiebreaker, Sakkari converted his third match point when Pegula sent a forehand into the net.
In the other singles match on Monday night, seventh-seeded Belarusian Arnyna Sabalenka toppled world No. 2 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-5.
Sabalenka found herself two points from loss as she trailed 3-5 in the tiebreaker. She did, however, earn the next four runs to force a third set.
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