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The No.2 seed Maria Sakkari soared past No.3 seed Caroline Garcia 6-3, 6-0 to clinch a spot in the final of the Guadalajara Open.
Sakkari will face Caroline Dolehide for the title on Saturday. Sakkari took command early, ensuring a more straightforward victory. In the first set, Sakkari committed just three unforced errors, which helped to temper Garcia's aggressive style. Sakkari lost just two games behind her serve for the remainder of the set after breaking Garcia for a 3-1 advantage. In the second set, Sakkari continued to choke Garcia. In her opening service game, she refused to let Garcia close up a 4015 lead and broke for a quick edge. Garcia's greatest opportunity to tie the score was when Sakkari was serving at 3-0. In the longest game of the match, Garcia had three break-point opportunities, but Sakkari fended them off to widen her lead and ultimately terminate her stout performance. She completed with a nearly flawless stat line, saving all four break points she was presented with while hitting eight winners to seven unforced errors. "I said it the first day that I felt like this was the week. This is the place where I was going to overcome a lot of difficult obstacles and difficult emotions," Sakkari was quoted as saying by WTA. "I don't want to go back to the US Open because that's passed, but I'm just so happy to be back in the final and to get to stay until the end of the tournament. I couldn't have asked for anything better this year," she added. "The last match we played was one of the toughest matches in my career. My goal today was to smile, to enjoy, to come out here and have fun. Because those are the emotions that I haven't felt in a while. I kept telling myself if you don't feel it here, in this amazing stadium, where are you going to feel it?" said the No.2 seed. "So mission complete, but we have one more to go. I'm going to have the same goal tomorrow. I'm going to come out here with a smile and enjoy my last day in Guadalajara for this season," she added. Garcia had 20 unforced errors compared to 11 wins. She is now 0-3 this season against Top 10 opposition after the defeat. (ANI)
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