Sakkari sails into semifinals of WTA Finals behind convincing win over Sabalenka

Greek tennis star Maria Sakkari needed a straight-sets victory over Aryna Sabalenka to guarantee a spot in the knockout stage at the WTA Finals, and proceeded to do just that with a thrilling win on Wednesday night in Fort Worth, Texas.

The World No.5 recorded a 6-2 6-4 victory over Sabalenka, establishing her place atop the leaderboard in the Nancy Richey group. Sakkari raced through the opening set, relying on her consistency to outplay the big-hitting Belarusian.

After capturing the first set, Sakkari quickly converted a break point to lead 3-0 in the second. However, Sabalenka roared back, winning the next four games behind her powerful groundstrokes. However, it was the Greek player who obtained another break, and served for the match at 5-4. Although Sabalenka forced three break point opportunities on Sakkari's serve, the Belarusian was unable to capitalize, allowing Sakkari to close out the match after an hour and 37 minutes.

With this straight sets victory, Sakkari is assured of a place in the semifinals while Sabalenka will have to defeat Jessica Pegula and hope the results of the match between Ons Jabeur and Sakkari swing in her favor.