Sakkari books Guadalajara WTA title clash with Dolehide

GUADALAJARA: Second-seeded Maria Sakkari beat third-seeded Caroline Garcia 6-3, 6-0 on Friday to book a return trip to the Guadalajara WTA 1000 tournament, where she´ll face first-time WTA finalist Caroline Dolehide.

Greece´s Sakkari, ranked ninth in the world, is in the Guadalajara final for the second straight year.

Last year she battled through a string of tough three-setters, but this year she hasn´t dropped a set on the way to the final, where she´ll be seeking her first title since Rabat in 2019.

A victory would be a late high note in an up-and-down season that included a first-round exit at the US Open last month.

"I said it the first day that I felt like this was the week," said Sakkari, who lost to Jessica Pegula in last year´s final. "This is the place where I was going to overcome a lot of difficult obstacles and difficult emotions.

"I don´t want to go back to the US Open because that´s passed, but I´m just so happy to be back in the final, I couldn´t have asked for anything better."

Sakkari had just three unforced errors in the opening set, breaking for a 3-1 lead as she took control.

She broke Garcia to open the second set in a game the French player led 40-15, and fought off three break points to push her lead to 4-0.

Sakkari had lost three of four prior meetings with France´s Garcia, finally getting past her in Doha this year. "The last match we played was one of the toughest matches in my career," Sakkari said. "My goal today was to smile, to enjoy, to come out here and have fun. Because those are the emotions that I haven´t felt in a while. "I´m going to have the same goal tomorrow," she said.