WTA Finals championships: Sakkari enters into semifinals with win over Sabalenka, Jabeur battles back to beat Pegula

FORT WORTH: Maria Sakkari booked a spot in the semifinals of the year-ending WTA Finals championships for the second year in a row after moving past No.7 seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 6-4 in 97 minutes here on Thursday.

Sakkari needed to win in two sets on Wednesday to guarantee herself a second consecutive appearance in the final four of the WTA Finals. She did just that with a straight-sets victory over Aryna Sabalenka in Fort Worth.

"If you're not aggressive on this court, then it's just game over," Sakkari said afterwards. "If I was passive, especially against (Sabalenka), the biggest hitter on the tour, then it's just bye-bye. I just went for it. If I'm not going to go for it here, when am I going to do it?"

Both Sakkari and Sabalenka are back at the WTA Finals for the second straight year, but not without struggles. In pre-event press, Sabalenka called it a "miracle" she made the event, while Sakkari termed her season "very challenging." Neither of them won a singles title in 2022.

World number two Ons Jabeur overcame a sluggish start to beat top-ranked American Jessica Pegula 1-6 6-3 6-3 for her first win in round robin play.

Pegula came out firing against the Tunisian, catching up to a drop shot in plenty of time to deliver a backhand winner to snag the 25-minute first set.

But Jabeur came alive in the second, breaking Pegula when her forehand hit the net cord and landed out of bounds for a 4-3 lead en route to leveling the contest at a set apiece.

Frustration appeared to mount for Pegula in the decider and she did not even attempt to run down a Jabeur drop shot on break point that gave the Tunisian a 5-3 lead. Jabeur went on to seal the win on an errant backhand from Pegula on match point.

"In the first set, she was playing really well and really fast," Jabeur told Tennis Channel.

"The balls were really tough, very low, and I know she likes to play the balls like that. I just had to change up the rhythm and impose my game more than her game."

Jabeur, who fell to Aryna Sabalenka in a tight three setter in her opening match on Monday, said the group format did not afford her time to sulk over the loss. Agencies

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