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It took Maria Sakkari three WTA 1000 finals to finally get her hands on her first-ever title in the category. On Saturday, Sakkari defeated Caroline Dolehide in the final to win the 2023 Guadalajara Open title. The Greek needed an hour and 43 minutes to post a 7-5, 6-3 win.
Sakkari won 70% of her first-serve points to the American’s 58%. She also won 54% of her second-serve points to the latter’s 50%. In the first set, Sakkari secured an early break but was reined back in by her opponent.
A second break in the 11th game allowed her to close out the set in the following game. The second set went in Sakkari’s favour from the get-go and she grabbed the win after breaking Dolehide’s serve for the second time in the set, in the ninth game.
Guadalajara Open: Perseverance reaps rewards for Maria Sakkari
Post-match, Sakkari said, “I feel like I haven’t really realized what I did this week, and it’s going to take a little bit of time. But at the same time, I just want to really enjoy the moment today and tomorrow, and just keep working hard, because I’m sure that more are going to come in the future”.
This was the second year on the trot that Maria Sakkari had reached the final of the Guadalajara Open. In 2022, she’d made it to the final only to lose to Jessica Pegula. It was her second appearance in the final of a WTA 1000.
That same year, she made her debut in the title round of the tournament category, in Indian Wells (lost to Iga Swiatek). Overall, this is the second crown of the 28-year-old’s career. Her first-ever title came in 2019, in Morocco, at the Rabat Grand Prix.