Tuesday’s second semifinal at the WTA Finals in Guadalajara will see a pair of familiar foes do battle as Maria Sakkari takes on Anett Kontaveit. This will be the twelfth career meeting between the pair, the fifth in 2021 alone. it is Sakkari who holds a slender 6-5 edge overall, the pair have split their four meetings in 2021. Sakkari will have her work cut out stopping the form player on tour at the moment. Will Kontaveit continue her recent hot streak, or will Sakkari be too strong?
WTA Finals Semifinal Prediction
Maria Sakkari vs Anett Kontaveit
Head-to-head: Sakkari 6-5 Kontaveit
Sakkari came through an almighty struggle with Aryna Sabalenka to secure her spot in the semifinals. Sakkari prevailed 7-6 6-7 6-3 in a match lasting almost three hours. It was a match filled with unforced errors and double faults, one of the lowest quality matches likely to be seen between a pair of players in the top ten. Sakkari will take the win, she did show her trademark fighting spirt which has now seen her reach a tour leading eight semifinals in 2021. However, Sakkari is yet to win a title this year. Clearly, she has a problem at the later stage of tournaments.
Kontaveit arrived in Guadalajara as the form player on tour having won back-to-back titles in Moscow and Cluj-Napoca to secure the final spot in the draw. The Estonian continued her winning ways in her first few matches on debut at the WTA Finals, claiming straight set wins over Barbora Krejcikova and Karolina Pliskova. The 25-year-old’s 12-match winning streak came to an end when she lost to Garbine Muguruza in straight sets in her final group match. It should be noted that Kontaveit didn’t need to win the match with Muguruza, her progression to the semifinals was already confirmed.
There are no secrets in this match-up, a fifth meeting of the year between the pair makes this one of the most common matchups in recent times. Their most recent clash was in the Ostrava final, Kontaveit won that match 6-2 7-5. The Estonian has won three of their last four matches on a hard court and looks likely to build on that record.
Side with Kontaveit here. There are several factors in Kontaveit’s favour heading into this match. Firstly, Kontaveit should be better prepared given she had a day off between her last match. Sakkari is coming off a gruelling battle with Sabalenka, a late finish gives her little time to prepare for Tuesday’s semifinal. Kontaveit is playing the better tennis, Sakkari looked awful against Sabalenka, a similar type of performance is barely going to be competitive against an in-form Kontaveit. Kontaveit’s game is better suited to the conditions, and she has won a lot of big matches of late. In contrast, Sakkari has developed a bad habit of losing these types of matches.
Prediction: Kontaveit in 2
