Maria Sakkari to face Anett Kontaveit in the St. Petersburg final

Maria Sakkari and Anett Kontaveit won the St. Petersburg open semifinals over Begu and Ostapenko and they will meet tomorrow in the final.

In the first match, we saw Maria Sakkari struggle a lot against Begu who forced the Greek player to play a very long match that lasted 3 sets. Early on it was simple enough for Sakkari was playing rather well but still could not find a breakthrough. She took a 5-3 lead but lost her serve immediately when serving for the set. Luckily she was able to break her opponent once more to make it 6-4.

That sequence foreshadowed the mess that would come later in the match. Sakkari lost her serve early in the 2nd set but broke back not long after that. Both settled and we reached a tiebreak where the Greek player botched a straight-set win. Begu forced a decider. In the decider was saw 7 losses of serve and ultimately Sakkari emerged victorious out of that mess.

Joining her in the final will be Anett Kontaveit who had early struggles of her own. Ostapenko took an early break thanks to some aggressive play but once Kontaveit settled and adjusted to the style she cruised. She went on a 6-0 run to win the opening set with 6-3 after Ostapenko lead 3-0. It was a marvellous comeback by the Estonian who took control of the match.

In the 2nd set Kontaveit jumped out to a 2-0 lead but Ostapenko pulled it back. The Latvian took a medical timeout after that but resumed playing. Eventually, Kontaveit took control of the match once more to win ti 6-4 and move to the final.