Maria Sakkari could not help but smile brightly after going through 2 sets that required a tie-break to overcome Jessica Pegula in the opening match of WTA Finals 2022. Not many fans came to Fort worth (USA) to watch the match that lasted more than 2 hours.
On the indoor hard court at Dickies Arena, the world No. 5 tennis player was very excited with a 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (74) victory over the player who ranked 2 places above him. Eight days ago, Sakkari lost to Pegula in the final of another event.
For Sakkari, it was more important to go with her parents and grandmother - the first time in four and a half years that she had been in the stands to watch the 27-year-old Greek play.
She was like, Ch. It was a very classy match. She understands tennis very well, because my grandfather was a coach, then my mother was an athlete, so she went with my mother on competitions, Sakkari said.
Its great to have you around. Spend time with grandmother and parents, the people you love so much.
Sakkari's next opponent was Aryna Sabalenka, the Belarus player who had a surprising victory over Ons Jabeur in the second match of congresswoman Richey. Sabalenka came back to beat the two-time Grand Slam runner-up with a score of 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.
After losing to set 1, Sabalenka was defeated with a tie-break in set 2 with a score of 5-3 in favor of Jabeur. However, Sabalenka scored 4 consecutive points to equalize the score 1-1, before chasing in set 3 and winning 7-5.
Dont look at the scores, Sabalenka shared that she told herself at the time of failure, Just keep trying. Meanwhile, Jabeur admitted that he missed the opportunity and will have to work harder in the upcoming match against Pegula.
Tomorrow (November 2), the matches in the Tracy Austin group will take place. This group has the presence of Iga Swiatek, Cocco Gauf, Caroline Garcia, Daria Kasatkina.
