Anett Kontaveit sinks Maria Sakkari for St Petersburg title
Feb 14, 2022
Saint Petersburg [Russia], February 14 : Anett Kontaveit claimed her fourth straight indoor title by pulling off a comeback win over Maria Sakkari in a nearly three-hour St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy final on Sunday.
The number two seed Kontaveit of Estonia won her 20th straight indoor match with a gruelling 5-7, 7-6(4), 7-5 victory over the number one seed Maria Sakkari of Greece in St. Petersburg.
In a bruising battle between the top 10 players, 9th-ranked Kontaveit needed 2 hours and 57 minutes to overcome 7th-ranked Sakkari. Kontaveit was down a break in both the second and third sets before collecting her sixth career WTA singles title -- five of which have come in the last seven months.
Kontaveit's 20-match indoor winning streak began with title runs last year at Ostrava, Moscow, and Cluj-Napoca, a rich vein of form which propelled her to a top 10 debut and a spot at the season-ending WTA Finals, where she finished as runner-up to Garbine Muguruza.
Earlier on Sunday, the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy doubles championship was decided with Anna Kalinskaya of Russia and Caty McNally of the United States defeating Alicja Rosolska of Poland and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand 6-3, 6-7(5), [10-4].