{"id":7329,"date":"2023-09-24T10:55:08","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T10:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/sakkari-downs-dolehide-for-guadalajara-title-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2023-09-24T10:55:08","modified_gmt":"2023-09-24T10:55:08","slug":"sakkari-downs-dolehide-for-guadalajara-title-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/sakkari-downs-dolehide-for-guadalajara-title-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Sakkari downs Dolehide for Guadalajara title | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nGUADALAJARA:
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Second-seeded Maria Sakkari<\/a> ended her four-year wait for a second WTA title on Saturday, beating Caroline Dolehide 7-5, 6-3 to win the 1000 level Guadalajara Open.<\/p>\n

Greece’s Sakkari, ranked ninth in the world, had come up empty in six finals since her breakthrough victory in Rabat in 2019.<\/p>\n

That included the Guadalajara final last year, when she lost to American Jessica Pegula<\/a>, and a loss to Coco Gauff in the final at Washington this year.<\/p>\n

An emotional Sakkari thanked her coach of five years, noting they’d waited “more than four years for a second title.<\/p>\n

“We’ve heard so many bad things – that I will never win a title, that I’m a top-five player with only winning one title, that was very hard for me to overcome,” she said. “I’m so happy that I did it here this week.”<\/p>\n

The victory came less than a month after Sakkari was unceremoniously dumped from the first round of the US Open, her third straight first-round exit at a Grand Slam.<\/p>\n

Sakkari had said at Flushing Meadows she was “suffering on the court” and was “uncertain” about what to do about it.<\/p>\n

This week, however, Sakkari has looked in total command, becoming the first player this year to reach the final of a WTA 1000 event without dropping a set.<\/p>\n

Sakkari ended a fairytale week for Dolehide, ranked 111th in the world and playing in her first career final.<\/p>\n

Dolehide, who will rise to inside the top 50, came from a set down to beat Peyton Stearns in three tie-breaks in the first round, she beat eighth-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova in the third round and saved four match points in her quarter-final win over Martina Trevisan.<\/p>\n

In her first career semi-final, Dolehide defeated 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dolehide demonstrated the same grit she’d shown all week when she clawed back an early break in the opening set to take a 5-4 lead.<\/p>\n

But Sakkari won the next two games, taking advantage of one of Dolehide’s six double faults to break for 6-5.<\/p>\n

Down 0-30 in the next game, Sakkari battled back to take the set, and finally gained the upper hand in the second with a break for a 3-2 lead.<\/p>\n

That proved to be enough, although there was a tense moment in the seventh game, when Sakkari’s 40-0 lead evaporated before she steadied herself to take the game with her third ace of the contest.<\/p>\n

She closed it out with one more break, converting her second match point.<\/p>\n

When Dolehide’s volley sailed long, Sakkari fell to the court and covered her face with her hands as the tears came.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n