(Reuters) – Maria Sakkari beat Jessica Pegula 7-6(6) 7-6(4) in the opening round-robin singles match of the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas on Monday, avenging her loss to the American in the Guadalajara final eight days ago.
For Sakkari, who reached the semi-finals of the 2021 WTA Finals, the victory over world number three Pegula marked her first top-five win of the year.
The first set lasted 71 minutes – a minute longer than their entire Guadalajara final – and Sakkari secured it on her third set point of the tiebreak with a forehand passing shot.
The Greek raced out to a 3-0 lead in the second set before Pegula battled back, saving a couple of match points and holding serve to force another tiebreak. However, she was unable to send the match to a deciding set.
“It’s never easy against Jess. She’s an amazing player, she’s very confident right now,” world number five Sakkari said. “I knew it was going to be extremely tough but I fought hard and trusted my game.”
In the day’s other singles match, world number two Ons Jabeur, who reached her first two major finals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open this year, is facing No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
