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Maria Sakkari and Coco Gauff will play each other in the Citi DC Open title round on Sunday. On Saturday, both players made it to the last round after contrasting wins. Sakkari needed three sets to win her semi-final while Gauff posted a straight-sets victory.
Playing against top seed Jessica Pegula, Sakkari completed a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win after two hours and three minutes of play. The Greek, who’s seeded fourth this week, lost momentum in the second set but recovered in time to close it out in what was a relatively one-sided deciding set.
Sakkari won 71% of her first-serve points to Pegula’s 61% and 56% of her second-serve points. She also 54% points on return on the American’s second serve. Sakkari saved four of the six break points she faced while converting five break points on Pegula’s serve.
The 2021 US Open semi-finalist finished the match with 22 winners more than the 14 her opponent hit. Following the match, Sakkari shared, “I was playing really good back home, but I didn't expect to make the final here.
Actually, I had a feeling that this tournament is going to be good for me, but at the same time I was like, 'OK, let's see how it goes.' But, yeah, it's paying off. I'm playing good tennis again. I'm (playing) aggressive”.
Citi DC Open: Will Maria Sakkari best Coco Gauff for the fifth time?
This is the first time in 2023 that Sakkari’s made it to a WTA final. She’ll enter the one last and all-important match in Washington DC with a 4-1 record over her next opponent, Gauff.
The third seed and the only American left standing in the event after Pegula’s ouster, Gauff came through 6-3, 6-3 against eighth seed Liudmila Samsonova in their semi-final. The 19-year-old needed only an hour and 42 minutes to topple the 2022 Citi Open winner.
Gauff saved all five break points she faced in the match and converted three break points on Samsonova’s serve. She won 75% of her first-serve points and 65% of her second-serve points. For the match, Gauff finished with 78 points to her opponent’s 60.
Fifty of these points came courtesy of the unforced errors Samsonova hit. The Citi DC Open final’s the second final for Coco Gauff this year. Earlier, in January, she’d reached the final of the Auckland Classic and had also won the title after beating Spain’s Rebeka Masarova.