Sakkari upsets Venus Williams in quarterfinals
SAN JOSE >> Maria Sakkari of Greece upset third-seeded Venus Williams 6-4, 7-6 (2) on Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic.
Sakkari came back from 0-3 in the first set and 3-5 in the second set. She advanced to face American Danielle Collins at the tournament played at San Jose State’s new tennis complex. The winner will make her first WTA final.
Sakkari converted six of her eight break points in the match and hit 21 winners, three more than Williams. The American, who won this title in 2000 and 2002 when it was played at Stanford University, had 43 unforced errors throughout the match.
Williams raced out to a 3-0 lead. But Sakkari cut down her unforced errors dramatically from that point forward and reaped the benefits as Williams began to frequently end points with miscues, especially from her forehand side. The Greek player used her guile and depth of shot to reel off five straight games and wholly turn the set around.
Williams tried to be more aggressive on her returns as the set reached its conclusion, but the former World No.1 continued to struggle keeping Sakkari’s heavy shots in play, and the Greek held at love for a oneset lead after Williams returned a strong Sakkari serve long. Williams had only three winners in the first set, compared to a whopping 17 unforced errors.
The second-set tiebreak was all Sakkari. Rrrors by Williams put Sakkari up 5-1 at the change of ends, and the Greek fired an ace directly afterward to grab match point. On her second chance, Sakkari fired a forehand winner, easing through the tiebreak to clinch the upset.
Collins of the United States moved into the semifinals after her opponent, former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, was forced to retire with a leg injury. Azarenka had won the first set 7-6 (4) but was trailing 0-3 in the second set when she retired.
Azarenka, who won the title in 2009 when it was played in Stanford, pulled through a dramatic first set after 72 minutes of play but became hampered by her injury in the first game of the second set, at which point Collins took control of the tilt before the former world No. 1 retired.
• No.4 seed Elise Mertens and No.5 seed Mihaela Buzarnescu will duel for the right to advance to the first Premier-level final of their careers, after each passed their quarterfinal tests in straight sets.
Buzarnescu was the first of the two to reach today’s final four as she defeated Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic, 6-1, 7-5, before Mertens followed her into the semifinals with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over Johanna Konta.
Mertens, a Belgian, saved two set points in the first set, forced a tiebreak and won four straight games in the second set. It’s Mertens’ fifth WTA semifinal of the year.