Maria Sakkari advances in Kremlin Cup, qualifies for WTA Finals
26-year-old Maria Sakkari has clinched a spot at the WTA Finals for the first time by reaching the quarter-finals at the Kremlin Cup. She progressed after Anna Kalinskaya retired with an illness in the second set. She has now become the first Greek woman to qualify for the season-ending event for the top eight players. Here are further details.
Sakkari has achieved one of her biggest goals this year
Notably, Sakkari was leading Kalinskaya, 6-2, 1-0 before the latter retired. Sakkari said it's satisfying as she qualified for the WTA Finals. "It was a very important match," Sakkari said. "I knew that before I stepped on the court, because I knew that if I won that match, I would qualify. It's achieving one of my biggest goals this year, it's very satisfying."
Decoding Sakkari's performance in 2021
Sakkari has enjoyed a terrific 2021 season and has a 34-17 win-loss record in singles as per WTA. She became the first Greek woman to move into the Top 10. She reached her first WTA singles final since 2019 in Ostrava, besides making two Grand Slam semi-finals at Roland Garros and the US Open. Sakkari is yet to win a title this season.
Halep improves her record against Russian players
30-year-old Simona Halep won 6-1, 7-6 against Veronika Kudermetova to progress. As per WTA, Halep has now improved her record against Russian players to 5-1 this season. She also has a 42-20 record in her career against them. Interestingly, she's the only Romanian player to have ever won the title in Moscow.
These five players have qualified for the WTA Finals
Sakkari has joined the likes of Ashleigh Barty, Aryna Sabalenka, Barbora Krejcikova, and Karolina Pliskova in the WTA Finals so far. There are three places to be filled.
Halep will face Sakkari in the quarters
Halep, who is currently ranked number 19 in the world, has advanced to a quarter-finals and will face Sakkari next. Halep now has a 16-8 win-loss record this season.
