Maria Sakkari wins 2023 Guadalajara Open

Maria Sakkari (Peter Menzel, Wikimedia Commons)

Maria Sakkari of Athens, Greece won the 2023 Guadalajara Open in Mexico on Saturday. The second seed defeated the unseeded American Caroline Dolehide of Hinsdale, Illinois, 7-5, 6-3.

Sakkari broke Dolehide four of 11 times in the match. Sakkari had the statistical advantage when it came to her serve. Sakkari had three aces and four double faults, while Dolehide had one aces and six double faults. The match lasted one hour and 43 minutes.

For Sakkari, it was her second WTA title, and first WTA title at the 1000 level. She previously beat Johanna Konta of Great Britain 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the final of the 2019 Morocco Open. Sakkari was seeded second in Guadalajara (behind only Ons Jabeur of Tunisia), was ninth in the world prior to when the tournament began, is currently sixth in the world, and was a career-high best third in the world in March of 2022. Two years ago in 2021, Sakkari reached the semifinals of the French Open and the United States Open.

The biggest story this week was the meteoric rise of Dolehide. Prior to Guadalajara, she was 111th in the world. Now she is 42nd. That is a jump of 69 spots in the world rankings. Among the players she beat this week were the eighth seed Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-1, 6-2 in the third round, 2022 French Open finalist Martina Trevisan of Italy, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 in the quarterfinals, and 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin of the United States in the semifinals 7-5, 6-3.

Sakkari beat one seeded opponent herself in Guadalajara. That came in the semifinals, where Sakkari steamrolled past the third seed Caroline Garcia of France, the 2022 United States Open semifinalist, 6-3, 6-0.

The Guadalajara Open was the last WTA 1000 event of the tennis calendar in 2023. In an interesting twist, this event took place in September this year and ended on a Saturday, after being in October last year and ending on a Sunday.

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