Maria Sakkari won the biggest title of her career at the 2023 Guadalajara Open after beating Caroline Dolehide in the final.
The Greek player is one of the most consistent on the WTA Tour, but when it comes to winning titles, Sakkari has never been that successful. Despite being in the Top 10 of the WTA Rankings for a very long, the Greek player won only one title, and it was a WTA 250 event.
That triumph came back in 2019 in Morocco, and since then, Sakkari played in one WTA 250 final, three WTA 500 finals, and also two WTA 1000 finals. One of them was also the last year in Guadalajara, and so after not so successful season, the 28-year-old had to perform in Mexico.
She was doing just that from her first match, beating Storm Hunter, Camila Giorgi, Emiliana Arango, and also Caroline Garcia without dropping a set. It was obvious that the Greek player had a lot of power, when she fired the ball out of the stadium when trying to give it to fans.
It was only recently when Sakkari considered a break from tennis after her first-round loss at the 2023 US Open, but the massive support from fans changed her mind, and here she was, fighting for her second career title, this time in yet another WTA 1000 final.
Dolehide also had a great week, beating the 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the semifinals, but she couldn't keep up with the Greek. Sakkari got the first break in the first set, but she would later lose the advantage.
The American fought back, even leading 5-4 in the opener, but the third seed won three consecutive games after that, taking the first set 7-5 and coming closer to her biggest career triumph.
In the second set, Sakkari had break points in almost every single one of her opponent's service games, and despite not using them on two occasions, two breaks were enough for the Greek to establish big enough lead and win the match 7-5, 6-3 to win the biggest title of her career.
The triumph also means that Sakkari will move up in the latest edition of the WTA Rankings. The Greek is set to move up by three places, placing herself in the sixth spot ahead of Ons Jabeur, and more than 1000 points behind Elena Rybakina.
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