Sakkari breezes past Gauff for the Qatar Open semifinals

A matchup between Maria Sakkari and Coco Gauff was supposed to be a brilliant affair, but it wasn't as Gauff was easily outsmarted by Sakkari 6-3 6-3.

The Greek player knew exactly what to expect from the American and she was very much ready. Gauff is playing this event with an increased amount of aggression looking to end points rather quickly. However, the Ostapenko-like approach did not work for Gauff today because Sakkari was very much ready. Even when the American mixed her style and got to the net, Sakkari was right there with a counter.

Points were rather short and there was not much battling in rallies as Gauff either hit the occasional winner or made a mistake. Sakkari was very smart in baiting Gauff to 'go for it' and the American obliged. Obviously, she did not do it too well as the Greek player very much cruised in both sets.

The American was okay on return and sometimes exerted quite a bit of pressure but her own serve, she was rather poor. Too many mistakes overall from the American and not enough variety as Gauff never really tried anything different. She had a plan, it did not work but she followed it anyway. That resulted in a rather easy defeat against Sakkari who moves on to another semifinal.