By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Saturday, August 5, 2023
Seeing her 6-3, 4-1 lead slip away towards Jessica Pegula at present, Maria Sakkari was in no temper for slipping from one other semifinal slope.
Winless in 5 prior semifinals this season, Sakkari snapped her semifinal slide with dedicated closing kick.
Extra: Washington, DC Picture Gallery
The fourth-seeded Greek toppled the top-seeded Pegula 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to achieve her first last of the season on the Mubadala Citi DC Open.
Sakkari snapped a streak of six straight semifinal losses at present.
Tomorrow, she goals to shatter an 0-5 report in hard-court finals and seize her maiden-hard courtroom championship when she faces Coco Gauff for the title.
“I performed 4 finals final yr, so I do not know why everyone seems to be, like, so, you understand, loopy about me shedding within the semifinals,” Sakkari instructed the media in Washington, DC. “I feel that I’ve been doing fairly properly. I’ve been prime 10 for 2 years, however I assume that everybody has one thing to say.
“So on the identical time, you understand, it’s what it’s. I do not actually care about it anymore. I simply wish to win the title. Yeah, that is for positive.”
Nonetheless, her semifinal struggles—Sakkari carried a 7-20 profession semifinal report onto courtroom at present—did not deter the previous Roland Garros semifinalist at crunch time at present.
Sakkari mentioned she’s conscious of the deal with her latest last 4 futility—pointing on the market’s even a YouTube video on the subject— and is decided to “overcome it.”
“I actually tried to dam that semifinal factor that has been occurring and on for thus lengthy and in each totally different platform. I simply do not actually care anymore,” Sakkari mentioned with a smile. “They’ve made YouTube movies of my shedding semifinals. I am, like, No matter. Persons are simply so dumb (smiling).”
In the end, Sakkari mentioned clearing the semifinal stumbling block will hopefully assist vault her to her second profession title and first on onerous courtroom.
“I am telling you, I feel in case you had been to ask lots of gamers on the tour if they might take my semifinal report, they might say sure, as a result of I am not shedding first spherical. I am shedding in semifinal,” Sakkari mentioned. “So on the identical time, it is nothing dangerous about it.
“However clearly I had it in my thoughts that I wish to overcome that for this yr, and, you understand, it is one thing that I am blissful about that it occurred this week. However I am not performed but. That is how I really feel.”
Picture credit score: Matthew Calvis
