Jessica Pegula vs Maria Sakkari: 2023 WTA Finals - Preview & Prediction

02/11/2023 08:15 | by Evita Mueller

Jessica Pegula is through to the WTA Finals semi-final, but even so, the American wants to finish off the group stage with a win.

Facing Maria Sakkari is never easy, but American enters the matchup as a huge favourite simply because of how they both performed so far. Pegula impressed against Elena Rybakina in the first match and even more so against Aryna Sabalenka in the second match.

With Sakkari losing to both, Pegula is in the semi-final, but she certainly wants to finish off things with a win. It's rather likely because she's playing really well this week and has arguably looked the best out of all the players in Cancun.

Head-to-head:

There have been plenty of matches between these two so far. They have battled nine times so far, and while Sakkari leads 5-4 overall, the American leads 2-1 in 2023. Pegula bested Sakkari in Dubai earlier this year, while Sakkari won the Washington matchup.

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The most recent one happened in Japan recently, as Pegula easily won in two sets. Something similar is expected here simply if we look at the form of both and how they looked so far in Cancun.

Prediction:

Sakkari looked a lot better against Rybakina than against Sabalenka, but she still didn't look anywhere near as good as Pegula looked. The American is using the bouncy conditions in Cancun to her advantage, smashing the ball really hard.

She's one of the best pure hitters in the world and is certainly good enough to overpower Sakakri, who is clearly doubting herself. She has very little motivation as well because a win doesn't mean anything to her.

She can't advance regardless, so that leaves very little to be excited for. In any case, Pegula is the far likelier player to win the match, so I pick her.

Prediction: Jessica Pegula to win in two sets.

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