On Sunday in Fort Worth, Caroline Garcia produced a dominant performance to overcome Maria Sakkari 6-3 6-2 in the last four of the WTA Finals.
Garcia had on Saturday, emerged as the victor of a topsy-turvy tussle with Daria Kasatkina.
This time she enjoyed a far more routine outing as she sealed her first final appearance at the competition.
However, Sakkari had cruised through the Nancy Richey Group with three straight-sets victories.
But she fell some way short of those lofty standards as she failed to force a single break-point in the opener.
Also, Garcia took 80 per cent of points on her first serve in the opening set, breaking in the fourth game and dictating proceedings from the baseline in impressive fashion.
The match was like a procession after Garcia claimed consecutive breaks to seize the initiative in the second set.
The victory was sealed when Sakkari’s weak return clipped the net, at the French Open champion sealed.
Garcia has now won seven matches against top-10 opponents in 2022.
She has become the first French player to post seven such victories in a calendar year since Amelie Mauresmo in 2009.
Garcia is also the first player to reach the title match at the WTA Finals after turning 29 years old since Venus Williams did so in 2017.
She will now bid to cap a tremendous year with victory over either Iga Swiatek or Aryna Sabalenka.
Discussion about this post