Caroline Garcia cruises past Maria Sakkari in straight sets to reach final of WTA Finals in Fort Worth
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 06/11/2022 at 23:47 GMT
Caroline Garcia has become the first French WTA Finals finalist since Amelie Mauresmo after a straight sets semi-final win over Maria Sakkari. Garcia has now advanced through to the decider, where she will face the winner of tomorrow's other semi-final between Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka in the showpiece of the very prestigious season-ending event.
'No one dominantes like Serena and Venus did' - Gauff ahead of WTA Finals
Caroline Garcia has advanced through to the final of the WTA Finals with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Maria Sakkari.
Despite Sakkari having finished top of a tough qualifying group, including Ons Jabeur, Jessica Pegula, and Aryna Sabalenka, she was no match for Garcia in the semi-final.
The Greek world No. 5 battled gamely in the first set, drawing it out for more than an hour, but she was rolled in the second.
In truth, the key period came after Sakkari had broken Garcia's serve and led the match. From there, Garcia reeled off 12 straight games to all but take the match.
Sakkari put up a brief fight in the fourth game, but after dropping a break point she folded and Garcia wrapped up the second set in little more than half an hour.
After enduring a real fight in the quarter-final against Daria Kasatkina, things were simpler for Garcia in her straight sets semi-final win. Next up, she will face the winner of the other semi-final between Iga Swiatek and Sabalenka in the tournament showpiece.
Despite having played Kasatkina on Saturday, Garcia was raring to go again on Sunday. She said: "Yesterday, I was a little bit tired – nothing unusual after such a big match. This morning, obviously the legs were a bit heavy, but I was just so excited, the emotion and the win yesterday to be playing a semifinal today of the WTA Finals."
Garcia has become the first French player to reach the final of this tournament since Amelie Mauresmo did in back-to-back years in 2005 and 2006. She is also the oldest player to reach the final since Venus Williams in 2017.
Garcia reached the semi-finals in Fort Worth back in 2017, but has now reached the biggest final of her career so far.
Speaking after her victory over Sakkari, Garcia reflected on her previous WTA Finals semi-final and her journey back to the top. She said: "I'm five years older you know? Maybe five years wiser I don't know. You know you try to learn from everything. We got some tough experience, a couple of injuries the last couple of years."
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2022/10/30/3481412-70975413-2560-1440.jpg)
'No one dominantes like Serena and Venus did' - Gauff ahead of WTA Finals
Before Sunday's match, Garcia and Sakkari had met twice before, with Garcia winning both.
On both occasions, Garcia then went on the win the titles in 2017 in Wuhan and last year in Cinncinnati.
Garcia has navigated injury and inconsistent form in recent years, but now appears to be playing her best tennis ahead of the final.
- - -
After a great debut season, the UCI Track Champions League is back for season two, with Laura Kenny joining the party. You can watch it all live and on demand on discovery+. We will have extensive coverage across eurosport.com and the first race is in Mallorca on Saturday Nov 12, with the action starting at 5:30pm UK time.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
/images.sports.gracenote.com/images/lib/basic/geo/country/flag/large/2202.png)
/images.sports.gracenote.com/images/lib/basic/geo/country/flag/large/2774.png)