Maria Sakkari battles past Iga Swiatek for the Ostrava Open final

Both Iga Swiatek and Maria Sakkari arrived in the Ostrava Open semifinal after stellar play in the previous rounds. Both were capable of winning this match but the key moment in the opening set happened early. A bit of a shaky and slow start by Swiatek allowed her opponent to break her serve in the first game. Swiatek needed to find her rhythm with many of her early shots sailing wide.

Sakkari was much more solid early on and that proved key for the opening set. She would hold her serve for the rest of the set thanks to a combination of timely serving and great baseline play. Swiatek applied pressure but it was handled fairly comfortably by Sakkari who won the opening set with 6-4.

The 2nd set featured even better play by both player as Swiatek had the initiative early. She had two break points but Sakkari was able to save both and that proved costly for Swiatek. She was the better play at that time but failed to use her chances with Sakkari taking a 4-2 lead after that. A bit of a lapse in focus by the Greek allowed Swiatek to come back by taking a 5-4 lead but Sakkari proved calm enough to hold serve for 5-5.

The next game proved the crucial one with the Greek finding some great shots to carve out some break points. Swiatek saved two but the 3rd was converted by Sakkari who went on to win the match 7-5. A great week for Sakkari who will look to win a 2nd career trophy tomorrow.