Džábirová lost to Sabalenko at the Tournament of Champions, Sakkariová succeeded

Update: 01.11.2022 08:24
Issued by: 01.11.2022, 07:12

Fort Worth (USA) – Tunisian tennis player Uns Jabirova’s first entry into the Tournament of Champions was unsuccessful. The second-seeded player did not finish a well-played duel with Belarusian Aryna Sabalenkova in the opening duel of Nancy Richey’s group and lost 6:3, 6:7, 5:7. The world number three American Jessica Pegula was also unsuccessful, losing twice to the Greek Maria Sakkariová 6:7.

The 28-year-old Jabirová made it to the prestigious tournament in Fort Worth, USA, as the first player from Arab countries in history. The finalist of this year’s Wimbledon and US Open had a well-played duel against seventh-seeded Sabalenková, and after the triumph in the first set, she led 5:3 in the shortened game of the second set.

But Sabalenková turned the tie-break with four balls in a row and in the decisive third set she dealt with a 2:4 deficit and two more break points. Belarus took the duel to victory in two and a half hours, defeating Jabirova for the third time in a row. “Somehow I managed another miracle and managed to win this match,” said the native of Minsk.

Twenty-seven-year-old Sakkari avenged the eight-day-old defeat of Pegula, a year older, in the final of the tournament in Guadalajara. In the first set at 6:5, she did not take advantage of the serve, but she converted the third set point in a dramatic shortened game.

The second set also ended in a shortened game after two unused match points by Sakkari. The seeded five lost 3:4 in it, but thanks to the four exchanges they won, they turned the tide and won their first triumph against a player from the top five of the ranking in the season. Pegula lost only the third of her last 14 matches.

“It’s never easy against Jess. She’s an amazing player and she’s very confident now. I knew it was going to be extremely difficult, but I fought hard and believed in my game,” said Sakkari. In addition to her mother, her grandmother also supported her in the audience. “She knows tennis well. Grandpa was a coach and my mom also played, so she traveled with her after the matches. It’s not like she’s watching her first tennis match in her life. It’s very nice to have her by my side,” Sakkari added.

The two best players from the four-person basic group will advance to the semi-finals. In Tracy Austin’s group, world number one Iga Šwiateková from Poland will compete against Darja Kasatkinová from Russia, and American Cori Gauffová will compete against Caroline Garcia from France.

tennis Tournament of champions