Semi Final. Please note that the final will not be played. The winners of the semi finals will each receive finalist ranking points and prize money.
Sakkari (1.67) v Kontaveit (2.46)
Due to start at midnight
Sakkari leads their previous matches 4-3. The last time they met was in May 2019 in Rome. Sakkari won on clay in straight sets. Sakkari leads 3-2 on hard courts. All their matches have ended in 2 sets. They met twice on hard courts in 2018 and won a match each.
Long term overall win percentages favour Kontaveit although Sakkari has the better ROI. Sakkari’s overall results in the last year are a little better. She also has a higher ROI. It is the same pattern on hard courts.
Sakkari made a very bad start in the last round against Angelique Kerber. Her serve was terrible and she was twice a break behind but managed to break Kerber back each time. At 4-4 Kerber still seemed to have the edge. She was serving and 40-0 up. She then pretty much fell apart. She was broken and Sakkari held her serve to take the set. The second set was very one sided. She has not lost a set this week.
Kontaveit also has not lost as et in the tournament. She was very comfortable against Christina McHale in the first round and lost just 4 games. She had to work a lot harder in the second round against Bethane Mattek Sands. Mattek Sands had beaten Barbora Strycova as underdog in the previous round. She broke the American’s serve in the first game of the match. She held on to the lead until she served for the set at 5-4 but was broken. Another Kontaveit break in the next game gave her another chance to serve for the set. This time she served it out comfortably. It was a very similar pattern in the second set. Kontaveit broke serve in the third game of the set. She was serving at 4-3 up when Mattek Sands broke back. Another late break allowed her to serve for the match. She won 7-5, 7-5.
Stats for the tournament favour Sakkari for everything except service holds. She had a nightmare on serve for most of the first set against Angelique Kerber. Back Sakkari around 2.00 to 2.10 or if she loses the first set.
Update: Sakkari easily took the opening set and Kontaveit won the second set. In the match tie break Sakkari took a 3-0 lead but it was Kontaveit who came out on top.
Kontaveit won 2-6, 6-3, 11-9
