Caroline Garcia cruises past Maria Sakkari in straight sets to reach final of WTA Finals in Fort Worth

Caroline Garcia has advanced through to the final of the WTA Finals with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Maria Sakkari.

The Greek world No. 5 battled gamely in the first set, drawing it out for more than an hour, but she was rolled in the second.

In truth, the key period came after Sakkari had broken Garcia’s serve and led the match. From there, Garcia reeled off 12 straight games to all but take the match.

Sakkari put up a brief fight in the fourth game, but after dropping a break point she folded and Garcia wrapped up the second set in little more than half an hour.

Despite having played Kasatkina on Saturday, Garcia was raring to go again on Sunday. She said: “Yesterday, I was a little bit tired – nothing unusual after such a big match. This morning, obviously the legs were a bit heavy, but I was just so excited, the emotion and the win yesterday to be playing a semifinal today of the WTA Finals.”

Garcia has become the first French player to reach the final of this tournament since Amelie Mauresmo did in back-to-back years in 2005 and 2006. She is also the oldest player to reach the final since Venus Williams in 2017.

Garcia reached the semi-finals in Fort Worth back in 2017, but has now reached the biggest final of her career so far.

Speaking after her victory over Sakkari, Garcia reflected on her previous WTA Finals semi-final and her journey back to the top. She said: “I’m five years older you know? Maybe five years wiser I don’t know. You know you try to learn from everything. We got some tough experience, a couple of injuries the last couple of years.”

Before Sunday’s match, Garcia and Sakkari had met twice before, with Garcia winning both.

On both occasions, Garcia then went on the win the titles in 2017 in Wuhan and last year in Cinncinnati.

Garcia has navigated injury and inconsistent form in recent years, but now appears to be playing her best tennis ahead of the final.

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