Maria Sakkari of Greece returns the ball to Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania during their St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy tennis tournament semi-final match in St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Elena Ignatyeva)
The Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) - Maria Sakkari will face Anett Kontaveit in the final of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy after the top-seeded players came through the semifinals on Saturday.
Sakkari defeated Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-4 in a match that lasted just over three hours, while the second-seeded Kontaveit had a somewhat easier path to the final by beating Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-4.
Sakkari fought back from a break down in the third set to move into her fourth career final.
Kontaveit stretched her run of indoor wins to 19 straight matches, which includes titles at Ostrava, Moscow and Cluj-Napoca at the end of last season.
Sakkari and Kontaveit have met 12 times and split the wins evenly. Kontaveit won three of their five meetings last year.
___
More AP tennis: https://www.apnews.com/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Maria Sakkari of Greece reacts during the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy tennis tournament semi-final match against Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania, in St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Elena Ignatyeva)
The Associated Press
Maria Sakkari of Greece returns the ball to Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania during the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy tennis tournament semi-final match in St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Elena Ignatyeva)
The Associated Press
Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania returns the ball to Maria Sakkari of Greece during the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy tennis tournament semi-final match in St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Elena Ignatyeva)
The Associated Press
Anett Kontaveit of Estonia returns the ball to Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia during the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy tennis tournament semifinal match in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Elena Ignatyeva)
The Associated Press
Anett Kontaveit of Estonia reacts during the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy tennis tournament semi-final match in St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Elena Ignatyeva)
The Associated Press
Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia returns the ball to Anett Kontaveit of Estonia during the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy tennis tournament semifinal match in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Elena Ignatyeva)
The Associated Press