Badosa overcomes Sakkari to remain undefeated at WTA Finals

Paula Badosa is the first player to pick up two wins in the Chichén Itzá round-robin group at the Akron WTA Finals. The No.7 seed from Spain defeated No.4 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece, 7-6(4), 6-4, to remain undefeated in Guadalajara.

In the first meeting between the two, Badosa gritted out a 2-hour and 4-minute win and extended her current winning streak to eight straight victories.

Read more: The groundbreaking year of Paula Badosa

Badosa has advanced to the semifinals in Guadalajara after Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek's match on Saturday night went into a third set:

Words from the winner: "I think it was quite a tough match," Badosa told the press, after the match. "I served well, I fight for every point. I knew it was going to be a battle against Maria.

"I think I stayed aggressive. I was moving well. When you win these kind of matches, I think you have to do a little bit of everything well. I think the key was a little bit in the important moments, I was quite brave and I played very good. 

"I think I [got] my first top 10 win, I don't know, maybe four months ago. Everything was very new for me. I needed experience. I needed to pass through all that. I think when I got the experience, all of those things, it went well. I think I'm quite competitive. I think I needed a little bit to adjust myself, to be here and play these kind of matches, to learn."

Fast facts: In her most recent event, Badosa won the biggest title of her career at the WTA 1000 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, which started her current winning streak and heavily contributed to her debut appearance at the WTA Finals.

Now firmly ensconced inside the Top 10 of the WTA singles rankings, Badosa is up to 20-8 against higher-ranked opponents this season.

Her victory over Sakkari is her sixth win over a Top 10 player, all of which have come this year, including a 6-4, 6-0 dismissal of World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka in her first match of this event.

Stat corner: Badosa had a more challenging time with World No.6 Sakkari, but she propelled herself to victory in two tight sets. Badosa could only convert three of her 12 break points, but the Spaniard dropped serve just twice, eking out the win.

The difference between Badosa's success on first serves and second serves was stark. Badosa won 71 percent of her first-service points, but only 46 percent of points behind her second serve. Nevertheless, Badosa got over two-thirds of her first serves into play, tipping the outcome in her favor.

Sakkari had 25 winners to Badosa's 23 in the match, but Badosa kept it cleaner with just 22 unforced errors, while Sakkari was undone by 49 unforced errors.

Key moments: After Sakkari came back from 2-5 down in the first set, the duo would settle affairs in a tiebreak, which Badosa opened with a blistering backhand winner crosscourt en route to a 4-0 lead. Sakkari pulled within two points at 5-3, but a Badosa ace followed, queuing up triple set point.

On the second of that trio, Badosa fired a forehand winner crosscourt to notch the opening frame after a grueling 67 minutes of action. Badosa had nine winners to just four unforced errors in the first set.

Badosa held onto the momentum with an early break in the second set, but the games started growing longer as Sakkari found success with dropshots and Badosa became more reliant on booming serves. Badosa had to save two break points before holding for 3-1, while Sakkari survived a whopping six break points in a 10-minute game before reaching 3-2.

More Sakkari droppers dragged Badosa into the forecourt, and the Spaniard misfired on a volley in one instance to drop serve and slide back to 4-4. However, ill-timed errors from the Greek allowed Badosa to reclaim her break at 5-4 and serve for the match. One more break point had to be fended off before Badosa converted her third match point with a backhand crosscourt winner.