Jessica Pegula vs Maria Sakkari: 2023 Citi Open - Preview & Prediction

| by Erik Virostko

The first-seeded Jessica Pegula will meet with the fourth-seeded Maria Sakkari in the 2023 Citi Open semifinal on Saturday, August 5, 2023.

The WTA 500 tournament in Washington will see another high-profile clash and this time, it will be between two players that were expected to meet according to their seeding in the draw. While the top-seeded Pegula defeated Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals, Sakkari had to play two matches, beating Leylah Fernandez and Madison Keys.

Actually, the two matches that the Greek player won were surprisingly dominant, and it seems that Sakkari managed to put her past inconsistent results behind her in Washington, playing two very solid matches.

In total, she dropped only 13 games in those two matches, averaging 3,25 lost games per set and spending only 2 hours and 52 minutes on the court, despite playing twice in one day. On the other hand, Pegula had to play for 2 hours and nine minutes, and had to fight against the Ukrainian in her 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback.

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Head-to-head:

In the past, the two players met a total of seven times, and many of their meetings have been at the best tournaments in the WTA calendar. After Sakkari won in Eastbourne in 2019, she followed up on the win also at the WTA 1000 tournament in Miami two years later.

2022 was the year when Sakkari and Pegula played the most and they both recorded two victories that year. First, the American won at the Australian Open, then Sakkari triumphed in Doha, before Pegula won in Guadalajara. But the last win was the Greek's as she triumphed at the WTA Finals.

This year, they met only once, and it was once again meeting in Doha at the 2023 Qatar Open. It was also a semifinal match, and then-second-seeded Pegula won it in three sets 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.

Prediction:

If it wasn't for Sakkari's impressive Friday and two comfortable victories against solid opponents, Pegula would have been a big favourite to win this match easily. However, the Greek's recent surge in form changes things quite drastically.

However, Pegula's consistency should still prevail in this match, and the American should also get the backing from the home crowd. Yet, Sakkari will probably show that those two wins were no fluke, but she won't have enough in her gas tank to win the match.

Prediction: Jessica Pegula to win in 3 sets.

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