Sabalenková did not give Sakkariová a chance. She won the first eleven games and beat the ninth player in the world by one hour and 16 minutes. “The score looks clear, but it was not an easy match. Maria is a fighter,” the winner said on the WTA website.
Twenty-five-year-old Sabalenková reached the finals at the Tournament of Champions last year. If she were to play for the title again this year, she would be the first tennis player to do so at the final event of the season since the American Serena Williams in 2013 and 2014.
In the second match of the Bacalar group, Jessica Pegula from the USA was losing 3:5 in the first set, but in the end she managed 7:5 and 6:2 against Jelena Rybakinova from Kazakhstan. “She made a few mistakes and I got into a rhythm because of that,” said the 29-year-old American.
Pegulaová then played with Cori Gauffová in the doubles, but they did not confirm the role of world number one. In the opening match of the Mahahual group, which includes Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková, they lost 6:7 and 3:6 to Gabriela Dabrowska from Canada and Erin Routliffe from New Zealand.
Tennis Tournament of Champions in Cancun (hard surface, $9,000,000 subsidy): Singles: Group Bacalar: Sabalenkova (1-Bel.) – Sakkariová (8-Greece) 6:0, 6:1 Pegulaová (5-USA) – Rybakinová (4 -Kaz.) 7:5, 6:21.Pegulaová1102:012.Sabalenková1102:013.Sakkariová1010:204.Rybakinová1010:20 Fours: Group Maya Ka’an: Dabrowská, Routliffeová (7-Kan./N. Zél.) – Pegulaová , Gauff (1-USA) 7:6 (7:2), 6:3
2023-10-30 06:36:38
#Sabalenková #Sakkariová #World #Sabalenková #entered #Tournament #Champions #crushing #win #Sport.cz
