At the home of the San Jose State Spartans, a Greek tennis player named Maria Sakkari was a curious fit on Saturday night. Her father hails from Sparta, and she is fond of saying, “I have the Spartan inside me. I give my heart and everything until the last point. And I like drama.”
That was abundantly clear in Friday’s quarterfinals of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, when Sakkari staged a dramatic second-set comeback to beat Venus Williams, 6-4, 7-6 (2). On Saturday night, she trailed fast-rising American Danielle Collins by a set and 4-1, only to rally for a dramatic 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 semifinal victory.
It’s safe to say that nobody could have anticipated Sunday’s 2 p.m. final between Sakkari, ranked 49th in the world, and Romania’s Mihaela Buznarescu, ranked 24th and making her first big impressions at the age of 30. Buznarescu defeated 15th-ranked Elise Mertens 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 during the afternoon semifinal. But it should be a compelling battle between two fit, powerful athletes seeing a golden opportunity. It’s only the third main-tour final for Buznarescu — and Sakkari’s first.
The stadium was only half-full throughout Saturday’s play, fans undoubtedly exasperated over the number of elite-player withdrawals. Maria Sharapova asked out before the event started, saying she needed to readjust her schedule. Then came the injury-related withdrawals/retirements of Garbiñe Muguruza (arm), Madison Keys (wrist) and Victoria Azarenka (back), not to mention Serena Williams’ first-round loss and Venus falling to Sakkari.
The attendance mattered little to the competitors as a balmy, breezy Saturday gave way to perfect conditions by nightfall. After scrambling her way back into the second set and eventually winning it, Sakkari was the more reliable, strategically sound player as the third set turned into a runaway. Maybe there’s something to that Spartan connection for Sakkari and the San Jose State campus. She will undoubtedly feel that way if she can pull off her first main-tour title Sunday.
Sakkari is the 23-year-old daughter of Angeliki Kanellopoulou, once a top-50 player on tour, and Sakkari describes herself as relentlessly upbeat. A nice, sensible upbringing can be invaluable to a young player.
“My mom totally understands every single situation,” Sakkari told WTAtennis.com. “She never asked me, ‘Why did you lose?’ Many parents say that to their kids. When I win or lose, she’s proud of me. She always supports me. She always says, ‘Enjoy. This is the thing you like to do, so enjoy.’”
She almost fell into tennis by accident after trying her hand at other endeavors.
“I was doing ballet — that’s not really a sport — but they kicked me out because I wasn’t that good,” Sakkari said. “Then they kicked me out of karate, as well, because I was laughing all the time. I said I have no choice to play because they are kicking me out of everywhere.”
Buznarescu, a promising player as far back as 2004, had every right to give up the sport after enduring two knee surgeries and recurring shoulder problems. Realizing her career might crumble, she left the tour and entered the National Academy of Physical Education and Sport in Bucharest, graduating with a Ph.D in sports science in December 2016.
Her comeback has been long and, at times, frustrating. At this time last year, she hadn’t won a single main-draw match at any level of the WTA tour. But her booming serve and solid lefty groundstrokes began to take hold, and she reached the finals of Hobart and Prague, along with reaching the fourth round of the French Open.
As for Collins, who was gaining favor to win the tournament as the event went on, if you were asked to name the five American women among the WTA tour’s top 50-ranked players this week, you’d probably have an easy time listing Sloane Stephens (3), Madison Keys (12), Venus (14) and Serena (26). The fifth player is Collins, at No. 42 and looking to score her first main-tour title.
Collins, who grew up in St. Petersburg, Fla., and played four years of college tennis — one at Florida and three at Virginia — didn’t hide her emotions on the court as the Sakkari match began to slip away, but she took a measured approach afterward.
“She started stepping up inside the baseline, putting her foot on the gas, and it helped her get back into her rhythm, kind of start the match over,” said Collins. “She really changed her whole approach to the match, and it threw me off a little bit. But she played great — kudos to her.”
Bruce Jenkins is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @Bruce_Jenkins
Be the first to comment