GUADALAJARA: Second-seeded Maria Sakkari 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.

Greece’s Sakkari, ranked ninth in the world, had come up empty in six finals since her breakthrough victory in Rabat in 2019.

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

An emotional Sakkari thanked her coach of five years, noting they’d waited “more than four years for a second title. The victory came less than a month after Sak­kari was dum­p­ed from the first round of the US Open.

Sakkari looked in total command, becoming the first player this year to reach the final of a WTA 1000 event without dropping a set.

Sakkari ended a fairytale week for Dolehide, ranked 111th in the world and playing in her first career final.

Dolehide saved four match points in her quarter-final win over Martina Trevisan.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2023